As of: 03/24/2023 6:14 p.m
A week ago, the Bundestag passed the electoral reform. The CSU and the left see themselves disadvantaged by this. Left-wing politician Gysi therefore proposes a compromise: the traffic light coalition must lower the five percent hurdle.
In the dispute between the coalition and the opposition over the new electoral law, former left-wing faction leader Gregor Gysi proposes lowering the five percent hurdle. “If the traffic light coalition does not want to risk a constitutional dispute, it must lower the percentage hurdle to 3 or 3.5 percent,” Gysi wrote on Twitter.
The background to this is the deletion of the so-called basic mandate clause in the electoral law reform that has just been passed. So far, this clause has secured parties entry into parliament based on their share of the second votes if they win three direct mandates. The left benefited from this in 2021.
Gysi: Equal opportunities argue against a percentage hurdle
Gysi argues with the constitutionally enshrined equal opportunities for the parties. The Federal Constitutional Court pointed out that the basic mandate rule contributes to reflecting the will of the electorate. If the direct mandate rule is abolished, the percentage hurdle must also be lowered.
“This would mean that both of the goals set by the highest court – facilitating the formation of a majority and regional representation – would be achievable and lawsuits or complaints in Karlsruhe would very likely be superfluous,” he continued. He called on the traffic light government to “immediately change the electoral law accordingly so that the necessary broad consensus can be reached in parliament”.
The Parliamentary Secretary of the Left in the Bundestag, Jan Korte, supported these arguments. “Absolutely right,” he wrote on Twitter. “Ampel has it in his own hands: either lower the five percent hurdle or take a constitutional action in Karlsruhe. #Suffrage must be fair!”
Söder against lowering the five percent hurdle
CSU boss Markus Söder, on the other hand, rejects lowering the five percent hurdle, as he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “The traffic light must take back this right to vote completely, corrections are not enough,” emphasized Söder. “In order to secure its majority, it put two of the three opposition parties at a fundamental disadvantage. The traffic light has sinned against the political culture,” criticized the Bavarian Prime Minister.
The coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP had decided on an electoral law reform to permanently reduce the Bundestag to 630 MPs. The left and the CDU/CSU feel disadvantaged by the reform and are considering going to the Federal Constitutional Court.