Germany’s president signs bill to cut seats in Bundestag

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier signed a law reducing the number of seats in the Bundestag from 736 to 630. About this informs newspaper Zeit, citing the office of the president.

Back in March, the bill was approved by the Bundestag itself, and in May the initiative was passed by the Federal Council. The goal of the reform is to reduce the size of the government, which today is the largest freely elected parliament in the world, explains Zeit.

The adopted law limits the number of seats in the Bundestag to 630. Also, according to the changes, “additional” and “equalizing” mandates are cancelled. Now a hard barrier of 5% is being introduced to enter the Bundestag.

Once signed by the President, the law must be published in the Federal Law Gazette. This is a formal procedure for the entry into force of the document.

Every voter in Germany has two votes in elections. Thus, half of the 596 seats in parliament (as many should be according to the Basic Law of the Republic) are distributed according to votes for specific members of the government, and the other half – according to votes for land party lists. In this regard, parties can bring more candidates to parliament.

The newspaper notes dissatisfaction with the reform of two opposition parties – the Left Party and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU). The government of the federal state of Bavaria, led by the CSU, has already decided to challenge the adoption of the law in court. In addition, Zeit clarifies, the CDU/CSU bloc of center-right parties in Germany intends to check the constitutionality of the law.