Bavaria: Action against "XXL-Landtag": is the referendum coming?

Munich (dpa/lby) – With the collection of signatures on Marienplatz in Munich, the FDP has started the first stage of the referendum it wants against an increase in the Bavarian state parliament. “Citizens want a lean and efficient parliament,” said FDP leader Martin Hagen on Tuesday in Munich. He referred to surveys, according to which 68 percent of the people in the Free State would support the goals of the referendum. Like the Bundestag, the Bavarian state parliament is also in danger of growing into an “XXL state parliament”.

Due to overhang and compensation mandates, Bavaria’s state parliament has grown significantly in recent legislative periods. Instead of the 180 seats provided for in the constitution, it currently has 205. According to forecasts, the state parliament could have 220 or more MPs after the elections in autumn next year.

After the FDP parliamentary group had failed with several initiatives to reduce the number of MPs in the parliamentary process, they now want to achieve the referendum with the Association of Taxpayers and the Association of Self-employed – Bavarian Trade Association. In this way, a constitutional change is to be achieved that reduces the target size of the state parliament from 180 to 160 members. A reshaping of the voting districts should also be implemented in this way.

In the first step, at least 25,000 signatures must be collected, there is no time limit for this. Only then can the application for approval of the referendum be submitted to the Ministry of the Interior. In the next step, ten percent of those entitled to vote in Bavaria would then have to support this within two weeks, so that either the state government can implement the demand directly or the state parliament can vote on it. If the state parliament rejects the request, there would be a referendum.

“Especially in times of crisis, politicians have to show that they are willing to save on themselves. We are convinced that the strength of a parliament does not depend on the number of seats it has, but on the competence and self-confidence of its parliamentarians,” emphasized Hagen . Bavaria affords the largest state parliament in Germany.