With the FDP leaving the Bavarian state parliament, the referendum it initiated to reduce the size of parliament is also off the table. The Bavarian FDP does not want to pursue the referendum “Prevent XXL state parliament” any further, said FDP state leader Martin Hagen Bavaria Media Group.
The FDP began collecting signatures a year and a half ago after attempts to reduce the number of representatives failed due to the other state parliamentary groups. She was supported by the Taxpayers’ Association and the Self-Employed Association.
At that time, the FDP justified the need both with the supposed desire of the people in the Free State for a smaller state parliament, with the associated lower expenses for taxpayers, and with a possible further increase in the number of representatives after the election.
In the state elections two months ago, the number of representatives no longer increased, but actually fell from 205 to 203 – also because the FDP clearly missed re-entry with its result of only three percent. The fears that the state parliament would expand into an XXL state parliament due to overhang and compensation mandates have not been confirmed, said Hagen. This means that there is no longer any urgency. Reducing the number of voting districts will remain a political goal of the FDP in the future.
In the first step of the referendum, at least 25,000 signatures should have been collected; there is no time limit for this. Only then could the application for approval of the referendum could have been submitted to the Ministry of the Interior. The FDP did not reveal how many signatures have been collected throughout Bavaria since the starting signal on September 27, 2022 at Munich’s Marienplatz.