"Comparable to the tricks of the Trump Republicans," complains Korte

On Friday, the Bundestag held a heated debate on the traffic light coalition's reform plans for electoral law. CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt criticized the project as an "act of disrespect" towards voters and democracy. It could lead to MPs who were directly elected in the constituencies no longer entering parliament. The traffic light is thus questioning the “right to exist of the CSU” and wants to “push the left out of parliament”.

Die Linke's parliamentary secretary, Jan Korte, said the reform was "the biggest attack on voting rights as a cornerstone of democracy in decades". The governing parties SPD, Greens and FDP would benefit. On the other hand, the CSU and the left should be “politically eliminated”. The reform is "comparable to the trickery of the Trump Republicans," said Korte and announced that he would go before the Federal Constitutional Court: "We will see each other in Karlsruhe."

With the reform, the Bundestag, which has grown to 736 MPs, is to be permanently reduced to 630 seats from the next election. The reduction is to be achieved by completely dispensing with overhang and equalization mandates. So far, these have caused the Bundestag to be bloated. Overhang mandates arise when a party wins more seats in the Bundestag via direct mandates than it is entitled to based on the result of the second vote. You can keep those seats. The other parties receive compensatory mandates in return. According to the new rules, it could happen in the future that an applicant wins his constituency directly, but still does not get into the Bundestag.

In addition, a strict five percent clause should apply. The basic mandate clause does not apply. So far, it has ensured that parties with the strength of their second vote result in the Bundestag 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 deleted, depending on the election result, this could also have consequences for the CSU in the future.

The chairman of the SPD in the electoral law commission, Sebastian Hartmann, defended the project. The reform is overdue. He emphasized that the reduction in parliament from the current 736 votes to 630 is clear and understandable. The abolition of the basic mandate clause, which has so far enabled the representation of parties that achieve fewer than five percent of the votes nationwide, is a “clear systemic decision” and strengthens the idea of ​​proportional representation. From the point of view of the traffic light, the proposal is firmly in the German constitutional tradition.

The Bundestag must show that it not only expects the citizens to be willing to reform, but that it is also capable of doing so, said the FDP politician Konstantin Kuhle. Overhang and compensation mandates have meant that the Bundestag is getting bigger from year to year. In the future, only as many MPs could move into Parliament as there were time votes. The new electoral law thus ensures “reliability and predictability”. For her part, Greens parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann emphasized that the proposal was "fair and constitutional".

Union faction leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) appealed on Friday in the Bundestag that the vote should be postponed by two weeks. As justification, he cited the significant changes to the draft law that had been made just a few days ago. "We will never agree to such damage to trust in our democracy," said Merz. However, the SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich rejected this proposal.

After the debate in the morning, the Bundestag is to vote by name on the electoral law reform. AfD MP Albrecht Glaser pointed out that the traffic light proposal was "almost identical" to a plan by the AfD from 2020. However, the party could say that the desired number of seats had been increased "at the last second" from the original 598 to 630 don't carry. You will therefore not agree to the proposal.

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