The Bundestag is what?

The Bundestag is the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany (Deutscher Bundestag), a unicameral government body representing the interests of the entire German people. He was created as the successor to the Reichstag in accordance with the law of 1949, and since 1999 he is based in Berlin. Currently, the German parliament is headed by Christian Democrat Norbert Lammert, who held this position since October 18, 2005. It is the Bundestag who elects the Federal Chancellor, who is the head of the German government.

Functions

In its political structure, Germany is a parliamentary republic in which the Bundestag is the most important authority:

• In cooperation with the Bundesrat, he is engaged in legislative activities, developing and adopting various laws and amendments to the Constitution at the federal level. He also ratifies treaties and accepts the federal budget.
• The Bundestag performs the functions of legitimizing other authorities, including voting for a candidate for the post of federal chancellor, and also participates in the election of the federal president and judges.
• Supervises the activities of the government, which is obliged to report to it, and also controls the movements of the armed forces of the country.

Place of dislocation

After the reunification of Germany, the Bundestag moved to the Reichstag building, built in the late 19th century and reconstructed by the architect Norman Foster. From 1949 to 1999, the meetings were held in the Bundeshaus (Bonn).

The buildings in which the offices belonging to the parliament are located are built side by side on both sides of the river Spree and in German are called Paul-Löbe-Haus and Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus in honor of the two prominent parliamentary democrats.

Elections

Elections to the German parliament are usually held every four years, except for cases of early dissolution.

The Bundestag is a parliament whose elections are conducted through a hybrid system, that is, deputies are elected in equal proportions by party lists and single-member majority districts in one round. The Bundestag consists of 598 deputies, of which 299 are elected by voting in constituencies. The mandates received by party candidates as a result of direct elections (by majority districts) are added to the list of deputies from this party, calculated according to the proportional electoral system.

In elections to the German parliament, the majority element does not participate in the distribution of seats between parties, except when one of the parties in a single-member system receives a larger number of deputies than it would receive on the basis of the party list system alone. In such cases, the party may receive a certain number of additional mandates (Überhangmandate). For example, the 17th Bundestag, which began its work on October 28, 2009, consists of 622 deputies, of whom 24 are holders of additional mandates.

Dissolution of Parliament

The Federal President (Bundespräsident) has the right to dissolve the Bundestag in two cases:

1. If immediately after the convocation, as well as in the case of the death or resignation of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Bundestag can not elect a new chancellor by an absolute majority (art. 63, para. 4, of the Basic Law of Germany).
2. On the proposal of the Chancellor, if the Bundestag takes a negative decision on the question of confidence put by this Chancellor to a vote (art. 68, para. 1). This situation already arose in 1972, with Chancellor Willy Brandt and President Gustave Heinemann, as well as in 1982, when the Chancellor was Helmut Kohl, and President Karl Karstens. In both cases, as a result of the vote, the Chancellor was denied confidence, after which new elections were to be held. On February 16, 1983, the Constitutional Court quashed the decision to refuse to trust.

The resignation of Gerhard Schroeder

On May 22, 2005, after the defeat of his party in the regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced his intention to put a vote on confidence in order to give the president "all the power necessary to overcome the current crisis situation."

As was to be expected, the German Federal Bundestag denied Gerhard Schroeder confidence (for: 151 votes, against: 296 votes, abstained: 148 votes). After that, the Chancellor filed an official petition for the dissolution of the Bundestag in the name of the federal president Horst Köhler. On July 21, 2005, the President issued a decree to dissolve the parliament and set the date for the elections on September 18, the first Sunday after school holidays and the last Sunday, which does not go beyond the 60-day constitutional deadline. On August 23 and 25, the Constitutional Court rejected appeals filed by three small parties, as well as deputies Elena Hoffman of the SPD and Werner Schultz from the Greens.

Structure of the Bundestag

The Bundestag is the organ, the most important structural units of which are parliamentary groups, which are called factions. Parliamentary groups are involved in organizing the work of the legislature. For example, they prepare the work of commissions, introduce bills, amendments, etc.

Each faction consists of the chairman (Fraktionsvorsitzender), several vice-presidents and the presidium, which meets every week. During the debate and during voting, it is customary to observe strict party discipline (Fraktionsdiziplin). The German parliament is notable for the fact that voting in it is usually carried out by the sign of the chairman of the parliamentary faction.

The Bundestag also includes the Council of Elders (Ältestenrat) and the Presidium. The Council consists of the Presidium and 23 elders (leaders of parliamentary groups). It is usually used to conduct negotiations between parties, in particular on the issues of chairmanship in parliamentary committees and the agenda. As for the presidium, it includes at least chairmen and vice-chairmen from each faction.

Each ministry has one parliamentary committee (currently there are 21). The general leadership is exercised by the chairman of the Bundestag, at present this position is occupied by Norbert Lammert.