German Bundestag is shrinking

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A draft by the ruling ‘traffic light’ coalition of Social Democrats, Liberals and Greens won the required simple majority in Berlin on Friday. 400 MPs voted for the reform. As the Vice President of the Bundestag, Aydan Özoguz, announced, 261 MPs voted against the bill. 23 MPs abstained from voting.

Christian Democrats and the Left Party see themselves disadvantaged by the reform. They each announced a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court.

In the final debate on the planned downsizing of the Bundestag, opposition politicians accused the “traffic light” factions of having tailor-made voting rights to stay in power. Sebastian Hartmann (SPD) said the aim of the project was “a simple, understandable voting right”.

In general elections, each voter has two votes. With the first ballot he chooses a deputy in the 299 constituencies. The second vote decides on the proportional distribution of the seats. If a party wins more seats in a federal state with the first vote than it is entitled to with the second vote, it receives so-called overhang mandates.

With the reform, the Bundestag, which has grown to 736 MPs, will be permanently reduced to 630 seats from the next election. The reduction is to be achieved through the complete elimination of overhang and equalization mandates. Under the new rules, it could happen in the future that a candidate wins his constituency outright, but still fails to enter the Bundestag.

In addition, a strict five percent clause should apply. The so-called basic mandate clause does not apply. So far it has ensured that parties with the strength of their second ballot also entered the Bundestag if they were less than five percent but won at least three direct mandates. The Left Party benefited from this in 2021. If the clause is removed, depending on the election result, this could also have future consequences for the CSU – the CDU’s sister party – whose direct candidates traditionally win the most constituencies in Bavaria.

The Federal Council has yet to consider the bill, but it cannot stop it.

(SDA)

Source: Blick