September 10, 2012 - 15:43 AMT
German govt. seeks court support for eurozone rescue fund

The German government anticipates the country's highest court will this week reject a complaint seeking an injunction against ratification of the eurozone's permanent rescue fund, AP reports.

The spokesman of Chancellor Angela Merkel said Monday, Sept 10, the government is "convinced" the €500 billion ($640 billion) European Stability Mechanism is constitutional.

Steffen Seibert said the government is "going toward Wednesday in the hope that the court will see it the same way."

Over the weekend a backbench lawmaker with Merkel's conservative bloc asked Germany's Federal Constitutional Court to delay its ruling in light of a European Central Bank decision.

Seibert says the government believes the ECB's decision last week that it could buy unlimited amounts of government bonds if countries first seek help from the eurozone fund doesn't affect the court ruling.