In June, the people of Dresden elected a new city council. On Thursday, August 22, the 70 old and new city councilors will meet for their first meeting to constitute themselves. One thing is already clear: the council is more politically diverse than ever before.
Which parties or voter associations are represented?
A total of 15 parties and voter associations are represented in the new Dresden City Council, whose term of office lasts until 2029. The strongest force is the AfD with 14 seats, followed by the CDU with 13 and the Greens with ten seats. The SPD and the Zastrow/Alliance Saxony 24 team were each elected to the city council with six candidates, while the Left and the BSW each had five. The remaining seats are distributed among the FDP (2), the Free Voters (2), the Pirates (2), the PARTY (1), the Alliance of Free Citizens of Dresden (1), the Dissidents (1), Volt (1) and the Free Saxony (1).
Of the newly elected city councillors, 36, or just over half, were already members of the council in the previous electoral term.
Which factions have formed?
The future city council will consist of nine factions. That is one faction more than in the last legislative period. One city councilor from the “Dissidents” and one city councilor from the “Free Saxons” do not belong to any faction and are therefore considered “non-affiliated”.
The largest faction is the AfD, which has been joined by a city councillor from the Free Voters. This brings the AfD faction to 15 members. The CDU, the Greens, the SPD, the BSW and the Left also form their own factions, with the number of members corresponding to the election result. The second city councillor from the Free Voters has joined the Team Zastrow faction. At the same time, a city councillor has left Team Zastrow, which now has six members. This city councillor forms the “Free Democrats/Free Citizens” faction together with the city councillor from the Free Citizens and the two FDP councillors. The two Pirate city councillors form the “PVP Cooperation” faction with the councillors from the PARTY and Volt.
What will be decided at the first meeting of the new city council?
The constitutive meeting is primarily about formalities and organizational issues. First, all city council members are sworn in. This is followed by personnel changes, as not all elected city councilors accept their mandate and other candidates from the respective parties or voter associations take their place.
After the new city council has decided how many members the committees in which topics and proposals are discussed in advance will have, the composition of these committees will be decided from the ranks of the city councilors. It will also be decided who will represent the state capital Dresden in the Municipal Social Association of Saxony (KVS) and the Regional Planning Association “Upper Elbe Valley/Eastern Ore Mountains”.
Where can I find out about the work of the city council?
The council information system of the state capital Dresden contains, among other things, information on the meetings of all municipal committees, including the corresponding documents and templates from the administration or the city council factions. Inquiries from city councils to the administration are also published there, as are the answers to them as soon as they are sent to the questioners. The link to the council information system is at www.dresden.de/stadtrat The link to the live stream of the city council meetings and further information, including information on the parliamentary groups, can also be found on the page.
