A cross-party group of 124 MPs put a motion on the agenda to bring proceedings before the Federal Constitutional Court to ban the party, whose unprecedented alliance with the CDU caused a shock.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Germany on Thursday after a controversial motion demanding migration reforms was passed in parliament the previous day with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

An immigration bill from Germany's conservative election frontrunner Friedrich Merz and backed controversially by the far-right AfD has failed to make it through German parliament.

The bill fell short of 12 votes on Friday. Twelve MPs from Merz’s parliamentary group were absent. The setback came after Merz passed a majority with AfD for a non-binding motion on migration earlier this week,

The Bundestag rejected the CDU/CSU bill on limiting immigration. The media noted that this was a painful defeat for Friedrich Merz, who aimed to gain the support of the conservative electorate before the elections with this bill.