democracy
Vice-President of the Bundestag Referendum on the Basic Law
“After German reunification, there would have been a chance for East and West and North and South to adopt a constitution through a referendum”: Petra Pau. Photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
The Left politician is also concerned about democracy in view of the outcome of the European elections – and points to shortcomings in German unification. Pau demands that countermeasures be taken now.
Bundestag Vice President Petra Pau is calling for a referendum on the Basic Law to gain support for the To strengthen democracy nationwide. “It’s about anchoring the Basic Law as a common basis again,” said the Left Party politician in an interview with the German Press Agency. “Transforming the Basic Law into a German constitution by means of a referendum could be a smart way to raise awareness of the basic values of our community.”
Pau made her comments against the backdrop of the AfD’s electoral successes, particularly in East Germany. The East Berlin member of the Bundestag sees shortcomings in the unification process in 1990, when the former GDR joined the territory of the West German Basic Law via Article 23. Article 146 was not used. To this day, this stipulates that the Basic Law becomes invalid “on the day on which a constitution comes into force that has been freely decided upon by the German people.”
“After German reunification, there would have been a chance for East and West and North and South to adopt a constitution through a referendum,” said Pau. “We missed many opportunities. Now, at the end of a discussion process, at least Article 146 should be deleted.” She was taking up a proposal by East German SPD politician Markus Meckel, which is also supported by Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party).
For a decision before the federal election
“In many places, people do not even consider that there is a large proportion of the population that cannot look back on 75 years of the Basic Law, but only on 35 years,” said Pau. “Most GDR citizens had nothing to do with the negotiations on the Unification Treaty in 1990. This debate was not held back then. Today, I see that many people are very willing to take part in the discussion about democracy and the constitution.”
As time passes between 1949 and 1990, the appreciation for democracy as the best of all political systems seems to be decreasing. “We cannot stand by and accept this,” said Pau. “A referendum on the adoption of the Basic Law as the constitution for all of Germany could be a sensible way to increase support for our free and democratic basic order in the East and West.”
This must be combined with a genuine offer of dialogue to citizens and an offensive in political education. And it must happen quickly: “A constitutional convention might be the right forum. But it is important that it does not drag on, and that we make a decision before the 2025 federal election.”
“Against this fatalism of the lost East”
She appealed to the traffic light coalition to implement an announced project: “I would really like to see the Democracy Promotion Act passed,” said the Vice President of the Bundestag. “We should fight against this fatalism of the lost East. In many places there is a diverse civil society, associations and initiatives.”
She asked people in the western states to be willing to engage in dialogue: “In the West I hear: ‘Isn’t it slow enough with the East?’ And at the same time, after an election, everyone is asking what makes the East tick and what is going on with the East Germans. There is a feeling there of having been ignored, of not having been asked. Can we finally stop? No, we haven’t even started yet.”