Exclusive
On Tuesday, the Federal Constitutional Court will decide on the electoral reform. CSU man Alexander Dobrindt speaks of a “brazen manipulation of the electoral law”.
A few days before the Federal Constitutional Court’s decision on electoral reform, CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt is calling on the judges in Karlsruhe to stop the federal government’s controversial law. “This blatant manipulation of electoral law by the traffic light coalition is a lack of respect for the will of the voters and democracy itself. This electoral law can cause considerable damage to the principle of democracy and must not be allowed to continue,” Dobrindt told the star“We now expect the necessary decisions from Karlsruhe to protect this competition law and stop the manipulation of the traffic light coalition’s electoral law.”
The CSU politician criticized the electoral law proposed by the traffic light coalition as being “deliberately designed to push two parties out of the Bundestag as far as possible.” In addition, the first vote is devalued and the will of voters in the constituencies is ignored. “The electoral law is the parties’ right to compete; it must be designed in an understandable, fair and democratic way,” said Dobrindt.
The right to vote and the next federal election
In March 2023, the Bundestag passed the new electoral law against the resistance of the CDU/CSU and the Left Party. The CDU/CSU then filed a lawsuit in Karlsruhe. The Federal Constitutional Court will decide on Tuesday. The traffic light coalition also considers it conceivable that the court will object to at least parts of the law. The abolition of the so-called basic mandate clause is particularly controversial. It states that a party can enter the Bundestag even if it is below the 5 percent hurdle, provided it wins three direct mandates. The Left Party and the CSU see the abolition of the clause as an existential threat.
At the traffic lights you position yourself star-Information suggests that the court could at least partially overturn the law. It is conceivable that Karlsruhe could object to the removal of the basic mandate clause and give the federal government a deadline by which the electoral reform must be revised. In such a case, it is unclear whether a new electoral law or the old one would still apply for the next federal election.
Source: Stern
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