The German parliament rejected an opposition draft law on tightening immigration policy on Friday, two days after the opposition conservatives were accused of breaching an agreement against cooperating with the far right for the first time.

The German parliament narrowly rejected on Friday an opposition-sponsored bill calling for tougher rules on migration that risked becoming the first draft legislation to pass thanks to a far-right party and became a focus of a controversy about the attitude of the front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election toward the far right.

Polls show conservative leader Friedrich Merz’s Union leading ahead of the Feb. 23 election with around 30% support, while AfD is second with about 20%.

BERLIN — Germany’s parliament is expected to vote Friday on an opposition bill calling for tougher rules on migration that could become the first legislation to pass thanks to a far-right party — adding to a controversy about the attitude of the front-runner in Germany’s upcoming election toward the far right.

Germany’s conservative bloc requested a surprise recess in the lower house of parliament on Friday in a sign of the tension over plans to pass a hard-line immigration bill with backing of the far right.

German lawmakers rejected highly controversial migration legislation brought by the centre-right CDU/CSU opposition bloc on Friday in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. The bill was narrowly defeated,