Everyone is talking, grumbling and arguing about the reform plans with which the traffic light government wants to downsize the Bundestag. And while everyone is talking, scolding and arguing, it occurs to you: there was something! That’s right, even in Bavaria the parliament is too big, according to the FDP, which is planning a referendum on the subject. Title: “Prevent XXL-Landtag!” There are currently 205 MPs in the state parliament, next time there could be 220, the FDP wants to prevent that. However, the plan with the referendum did not really take off when the liberals presented it in autumn 2022. “Populist” was the word used by all other factions, without exception, who suspected a pure election campaign maneuver. With their idea, the FDP is pretty much alone in the state parliament. But in this case it’s not about the parties, it’s about the people. So, Mr. Hagen, how many signatures have you already collected in order to force the referendum?
“We don’t have a complete overview of all 91 district associations,” replies Martin Hagen, state party leader and parliamentary group leader of the FDP in the state parliament. Anyone who cannot name any numbers naturally fuels the suspicion that the list of signatures for the XXL referendum is more of an XXS list. No, no, Hagen assures us, “we know of district associations with four-digit numbers on their signatures.” A total of 25,000 signatures are required in the first step. In the second step, people should vote on October 8th whether they want a smaller state parliament, parallel to the state elections. That’s the plan, isn’t it, Mr. Hagen?
The FDP leader has now had to admit that this goal is “not achievable”. If the necessary signatures come together, the Interior Ministry must first check whether the referendum is permissible. The FDP then no longer has the schedule in their hands and their party leader is convinced that the state government would use its options to “delay” a referendum beyond the state elections. That’s why, says Hagen, “we’d rather do it relaxed for the European elections”, 2024. Quite relaxed? In polls, the FDP was last at three percent. By 2024, the state parliament could have shrunk without a referendum. Not for MP seats, but for a parliamentary group called the FDP.