It has already been dubbed “Twittergate”. One tweet from two members of the German Parliament Julia Klöckner and Ulrich Kelper last Saturday has caused a political furore in Germany, where the country’s parliamentary elders will later today launch a probe into the twittering MPs who broke decades of tradition and leaked news of the president’s re-election.

News that Hörst Köhler had been re-elected as German president on Saturday was published on Twitter almost 15 minutes before the result was officially announced.

Julia Klöckner, of chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU (Conservatives), wrote on Twitter that afternoon: “People, you can watch the football in peace. The vote was a success.” Ulrich Kelber, SPD (Socialists) was even more specific: “The count is confirmed: 613 votes. Köhler is elected.”

Critics insist that only the Bundestag president has the constitutional right to declare a new head of state. He customarily uses more than the 140 characters permitted in a tweet.

“I have absolutely no sympathy for things like this, because it will end up undermining the dignity of parliament,” said Peter Ramsauer, head of the CSU parliamentary party.

Julia Klöckner has stepped down from her party role in Germany’s parliament.

In April Germany had 580,000 users on Twitter.