Around three quarters of the Bavarian population have spoken out against further growth in the state parliament after the next election in 2023. This shows a Dimap poll published on Tuesday on behalf of the FDP parliamentary group. “The clear poll results are a clear signal and an unmistakable assignment to the Bavarian state parliament,” said the domestic policy spokesman Alexander Muthmann.
There are currently 205 members in the state parliament – 25 more than the Bavarian constitution actually provides (180). According to a calculation by the FDP, without a new electoral system, there is a risk of an oversized state parliament with more than 230 seats in the event of a second vote result from the parties, as in the federal election in 2021.
According to the survey, 72 percent of those questioned were in favor of reducing the number of electoral constituencies in order to curb the increasing number of MPs. The CSU-Free Voter Coalition should no longer ignore a fundamental district reform, said Muthmann. Because a bloated state parliament would not only be at the expense of the parliament’s ability to work, but also at the expense of taxpayers. In addition, a technical committee would not work better or more productively if more and more members had to be allocated to it, stressed Muthmann.
The survey also showed that the majority of voters from the CSU (77 percent) and Free Voters (79 percent) also reject a bloated state parliament. According to the FDP parliamentary group, the CSU and Free Voters have always categorically rejected a reduction in the number of constituencies in the debates so far.
Now the FDP parliamentary group is calling for a fundamental reform of the constituency for Bavaria in this legislative period. According to this, all constituencies in Bavaria “must be brought back to a comparable size, even if this should lead to completely new cuts,” it said. One does not want to shake municipal boundaries and create district-level constituencies as far as possible.
There are currently 91 constituencies in Bavaria, which are represented by directly elected MPs. Another 89 parliamentarians are determined via the constituency lists. The currently excessive number of 205 results from compensation and overhang mandates.