Germany elects a new Parliament
Jinfo Blog

25th September 2009

By Udo Hohlfeld

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This Sunday, September 27, 2009, the German people will elect a new Parliament. It will be the 17th German Bundestag and 62.2 Million Germans have the right to vote. You can find detailed, English language information on the current and former elections at http://digbig.com/5bahtk. This year 28 political parties and alliances as well as civil syndicates compete for the voters' favor. Not all will pass the 5% hurdle (i.e. 5% or more of the total votes) that is necessary to be admitted to the Parliament. The German Bundestag representing the people of the Federal Republic of Germany is vested with decisive legislative authority and therefore the most important body in Germany. It is composed of representatives of the German people who are elected for four years in general, direct, free, equal and secret elections. The German Bundestag has at least 598 members, recruited from those parties that pass the 5% hurdle. A voter has two votes, one s/he can give to a specific person and one s/he can give to a party. 299 members represent a constituency (comparable to the British House of Commons). 299 members are elected from the party list, which parties can define in each state. The total number of seats a party gets depends on the number of the second "party votes" it gets. The strongest party receives the order to build a working government. If it does not have a majority of members in the German Bundestag, it has to build coalitions with other parties to obtain this majority. Main parties to elect are the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the Christian Social Union (CSU - in Bavaria only), the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the Left Party (Die Linke), the Alliance '90/Greens (Bündnis 90/die Grünen) and many other more. Here are more English language sources to follow the German elections: German Bundestag - http://digbig.com/5bahtm Financial Times - http://digbig.com/5bahtn IFES Election Guide - http://digbig.com/5bahtp ISRIA - http://digbig.com/5bahtq

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