Status: 03/12/2023 7:44 p.m
736 MPs are currently sitting in the Bundestag – more than ever before. For years there has been a debate about how Parliament can be made smaller again. Now the traffic light has apparently finally agreed.
The Bundestag is to have a fixed size of 630 MPs. This is reported by the dpa news agency and the news portal “The Pioneer”. This means that the electoral reform is not as drastic as originally planned. In a first draft, which was presented at the end of January, only 598 seats in the Bundestag were planned.
According to the report, the plans of the traffic light coalition are to be decided on Thursday or Friday in the Bundestag. There is a lot of criticism of the project, especially from the CDU and CSU. The SPD, Greens and FDP can also implement their plans without the votes of the opposition.
Bundestag bigger than ever
With 736 members of parliament, the Bundestag is currently larger than ever. The culprit is the many overhang and compensation mandates that the electoral law provides for.
If a party wins more direct mandates than the second votes, the direct candidates may also move into parliament. In order to keep the balance, the other parties in turn get compensation. As a result, the Bundestag is growing – and has been for years.
With the electoral law reform, the traffic light coalition is limiting the number of MPs. As a result, in future not all winners of the direct mandates in the constituencies can be sure that they will be elected to the Bundestag.
According to media reports, the electoral law reform of the traffic light coalition is in place
Philip Brost, ARD Berlin, March 12, 2023 7:44 p.m