Should the reform of the federal electoral law devised by the three government factions become law, parliament would have made history.
For the rededication of the (single law) minimum number of seats in the Bundestag to the (single law) standard size of 598 deputies would be an act of self-limitation of the power of the parties, which was unparalleled in the history of German parliamentarism.
After the last three federal elections, more and more chairs had to be installed in the plenary hall, more and more MP offices had to be built and larger and larger rooms had to be found for the committee meetings.
In 2025, almost 140 of the currently 736 chairs under the Reichstag dome would probably be removed and never seen again.
This radical cut can only win a majority under the condition that all parties are equally affected by the cut.
The bill ensures that – which arguably ended up securing it overwhelming support even if the Union stuck to the claim that the bill was unconstitutional.
To clarify this, Karlsruhe would be the appropriate and only place.
The overheated CSU rhetoric about the “rogue state”, on the other hand, is fatally reminiscent of the delegitimization of democratic institutions à la Trump.