Ex-Greens boss: Nouripour: bundle all state elections on an appointment

Bundestag Vice President Omid Nouripour proposes to vote for all state parliament in Germany on the same day in the future. He would then like to extend the election period of the Bundestag to five years and merge the coordination with the local elections, as the Greens politician explained the “Bild”. The elections of the German parliaments would thus be bundled to just two appointments, half of the Bundestag election period. Nouripour is hoping for less “breathing” in politics.

“We have one state election after the other,” said the former Greens chairman of the “Bild”. “The maximum time between two election campaigns in Germany is six months.” This makes politics and party centers “completely breathless”.

More time to rule instead of permanent election campaign

As a way out, Nouripour suggests the bundling of the votes: “For example, Bundestag and local elections could” take place on the same day “and half of the period of the Bundestag then all state elections in one day”. If you do this, you can also extend the legislative period of the Bundestag to five years so that those responsible “have the time to implement their ideas”.

So far, the Bundestag has been elected every four years, the state parliament (with the exception of Bremen) every five years. In the coming year, for example, five state elections will be available on four different appointments in March and September: Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony-Anhalt, Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The hurdles for the implementation of Nouripours proposal are high. The federal government and countries would have to pull together, because the election dates of the state parliament are set at the state level – the election periods are regulated in the state constitutions. In order to change the parliamentary parliamentary term, a change in the Basic Law would also be necessary.