Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The FDP is starting to collect signatures for a referendum to reduce the size of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament. This was announced by state chief Michael Theurer and faction leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke on Friday in Stuttgart. The Liberals want to reduce the number of constituencies in the southwest by almost half. This is intended to prevent parliament from being bloated. Instead of 70, there should only be 38 constituencies in the future, analogous to the federal election. Most recently, the party had failed with a corresponding draft law.
“The people must decide”
Group leader Rülke said that the other parties were not prepared to reduce the number of constituencies, to save and to forgo sinecures. And party leader Theurer said that if the state parliament is not ready, the people will decide. Instead of currently 154 and potentially more than 200 MPs in the future, the Liberals had emphasized that they wanted to work towards compliance with the target size of 120 MPs. The other factions had been critical of the reduction in constituencies. Greens, CDU and SPD fear above all for the citizen proximity. Among other things, it was noted that fewer constituencies meant that each MP would represent more citizens.
FDP fears further increase in the number of MPs
The FDP fears a further increase in the number of MPs as a result of the electoral law reform passed just a few months ago. Almost a year ago, the voting age was lowered to 16 and two-vote voting rights were introduced in Baden-Württemberg. With the first vote, the constituency candidate is elected directly. The second vote goes to a party, which draws up a state list for it – this gives the parties more influence in the choice of candidates. The distribution of seats in the state parliament is determined by the second vote. Depending on the number of direct mandates a party has, a balance and thus more seats in parliament will be necessary in order to achieve a distribution of seats according to the second votes.
The referendum initially needs 10,000 signatures
For the approval of a referendum, 10,000 signatures from eligible voters in Baden-Württemberg are required. The Liberals were confident of clearing that first hurdle.
