Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel has criticised her own party leader for passing a motion in parliament with the support of the AfD.

In a statement, Merkel accused CDU leader Friedrich Merz of turning his back on an earlier promise not to co-operate with Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in the Bundestag.

– It is wrong to no longer feel bound by one’s own words and thus for the first time to have allowed a majority with the votes of the AfD in a vote in the Bundestag, she said in a statement on her personal website.

Today there was a row in parliament after AfD votes ensured that a non-binding CDU proposal on stricter immigration rules was passed, writes BBC.

The CDU and CSU leaned on AfD votes to push through a resolution calling for Germany’s borders to be permanently controlled and all illegal immigrants to be deported. The vote came in the wake of several deadly attacks in which immigrants and asylum seekers are suspects, writes NTB-AFP.

Instead of aligning with the AfD, Merkel is calling on the CDU to work with “democratic parties” to find solutions “on the basis of relevant European law” to avoid such attacks in the future.

It is highly unusual for the woman who led Germany for 16 years to intervene and criticise the actions of her former political rival. Openly criticising her own party’s candidate for chancellor – just weeks before the election – is a big step, and it will add fuel to an already explosive story in German politics.

Merz said on Wednesday that a policy was not wrong just because “the wrong people support it” and that he had not sought or wanted the AfD’s support.

But Merkel accused him of breaking a promise he made in November to work with the Social Democrats SPD and Die Grünen (The Greens) to pass laws, not with the AfD.</p

Merkel and Merz have a long history, and not as the best of friends. Merz left the party leadership after he attempted to take power in the CDU in the early 2000s. Since then, he has repeatedly criticised Merkel’s legacy.

They also have very different visions for the party, with Merkel a more pragmatic centrist and Merz from the CDU’s more traditional, conservative wing.

Incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also criticised the voting partnership with the AfD, calling it an “unforgivable mistake”.

– Since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded over 75 years ago, there has always been a clear consensus among all democrats in our parliaments: We do not make common cause with the far right. said Scholz.