Εισαγωγικό κείμενο
- 27 Apr 2023
- international
The next Federal Parliament is expected to shrink by 106 MPs, according to the change to the electoral law planned by the governing coalition.
The current electoral system allows each election to increase the number of deputies, with the result that the current Bundestag has reached a record number of 736 seats and is the largest freely elected parliament in the world.
According to the plan of the governing coalition, the number of MPs will be limited to 630, while one of the proposed changes concerns the abolition of the so-called "direct mandate clause". Until now, if a party failed to reach the 5% electoral measure, it could still enter parliament, provided it won the direct election of at least three MPs by direct mandate. This clause has so far been invoked four times, in 1953, 1957, 1994 for the PDS and in 2021 for the successor party, the Left, which had garnered only 4.9%.
The change in the electoral law has been discussed for years because the number of members of the Bundestag is constantly increasing due to the double vote system. The first directly elects an MP in a constituency, regardless of party, while the second vote is used to calculate the proportion of seats a party occupies in the Bundestag.
The governing coalition was however unable to secure the consent of the Christian Union (CDU/CSU) to its plan. Especially the Christian Social Union (CSU), which has repeatedly benefited from the previous system, expresses its complete opposition to the government proposal and opposes the reduction of the number of constituencies from 299 to 270.
In any case, the reduction in the number of MPs will also have the effect of limiting expenditure on allowances, officials, offices and travel. In the 2023 budget the cost of the Bundestag is estimated at around 1.14 billion euros. In 2018 it was 974 million, while in 2016 it was 857 million.
