Referendum on the Bavarian Senate

The referendum on the Bavarian Senate was held on February 8, 1998 and dealt with the question of the abolition or reform of the Bavarian Senate . The referendum was triggered by the referendum “Lean State without Senate” , which was organized in 1996 and 1997 by the Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP), the association Mehr Demokratie and other alliance partners.

The aim of the referendum was to streamline the political structures of the Free State of Bavaria through popular legislation by abolishing the Senate (the 2nd Chamber of Parliament). The Landtag (1st Chamber) drew up the "Senate Reform Act" as a counter-proposal, which provided for the retention of the Senate with a simultaneous reform of its composition and working methods. In the referendum, a majority of 69.2% voted in favor of the initiative, while 23.34% voted for the “Senate Reform Act”. Following the vote of the vote, the Bavarian Senate was dissolved on January 1, 2000.

history

planning

In October 1996, the Bavarian ÖDP had passed a fundamental decision at its state party congress, according to which a referendum should be started with the aim of abolishing the Bavarian Senate. Although this initially received little attention in the press, the party received a letter from the then Senate President Walter Schmitt-Glaeser , who suggested that it reconsider this plan.

Collection of signatures and registration deadline

After the ÖDP had worked out a corresponding draft law, it collected the 25,000 signatures required for this in the following months in order to present them to the public on Political Ash Wednesday in February 1997. To achieve this goal, the signature collection was carried out even in extreme temperatures. The ÖDP also received support from other organizations, including the SPD , Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , the FDP , the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bayerischer Junglehrer and Animal 2000 .

Cover of a mini CD, sent by the young ecologists to the senators on the occasion of the referendum

After that, during the registration period from July 10 to 23, it was necessary for ten percent of all eligible voters to register in the town halls. This quorum is a prerequisite for a referendum to be allowed to vote. In order to advertise their desire, in some places party members disguised themselves as Roman senators at ÖDP information stands . They threw money around to demonstrate that the Senate costs taxpayers a lot of money every year and that because of its existence "money is thrown out the window".

execution

Prominent supporters outside the party included Renate Schmidt (SPD), Hildegard Hamm-Brücher (FDP) and the actor Robert Atzorn . On the reporting date, a total of 928,652 citizens - and thus 10.5% of all eligible voters - had registered. Approval varied widely from region to region. If less than six percent had registered in Cham , it was 11.6% in the state capital Munich ; The nationwide leader was Memmingen , where more than 22% could be mobilized.

The CSU meanwhile presented a counter-proposal according to which the Senate should be subjected to a reform. Accordingly, for example, the composition of the associations represented there should be changed, the quota of women increased and the minimum age of forty repealed.

The referendum itself took place on February 8, 1998. 39.9% of those entitled to vote took part in the vote. Of the valid votes, 69.2% went to the referendum bill. This corresponded to an approval of 27.3% of the total number of voters. The state parliament's bill to reform the Senate received 23.6% of the valid votes.

Senate action

The Bavarian Senate initially sued the Bavarian Constitutional Court against its dissolution; However, on September 17, 1999, the latter declared the referendum to be valid. The Senate was then dissolved with effect from January 1, 2000.

On the other hand, however, the court stipulated that the quorum of approval for referendums to amend the constitution should be increased to 25 percent in the future. The ÖDP assumed that this ruling - which this referendum did not affect because it had reached a quorum of 27.3% - should represent a kind of consolation prize for the CSU. Thereupon the ÖDP initiated a referendum for “independent judges”, according to which the judges of the Bavarian Constitutional Court would in future have to be elected by a two-thirds majority of the Landtag - analogous to the election of the judges of the Federal Constitutional Court by the Bundestag. However, this failed.

See also

• People's legislation in Bavaria

literature

• Raphael Mankau (Ed.): 20 Years of the ÖDP - Beginnings, Present and Perspectives of Ecological-Democratic Politics . dolata verlag, Rimpar 1999, ISBN 3-344-70790-6 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mankau, p. 185
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Mankau, p. 186
3. ^ ^{A b c} Raphael Mankau: Successful referendum in Bavaria - 928,652 people for a lean state . In: Ecology Policy . September 1997.
4. ↑ Mankau, p. 188
5. ↑ Draft law for the reform of the Bavarian constitution concerning the Senate - Senate Reform Act - (PDF; 35 kB), Bavarian State Parliament, printed matter 13/9097
6. ↑ Announcement of the Land Returning Officer of the Free State of Bavaria of February 18, 1998, StAnz No. 8 of February 20, 1998 p. 3
7. ↑ ^{a b} Decision of the Bavarian Constitutional Court of September 17, 1999 ( Memento of the original from April 1, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Vf. 12-VIII-98, Vf. 14-VII-98 and Vf. 15-VII-98 
8. ↑ Urban Mangold: Bavaria's ÖDP on the Senate judgment of the Constitutional Court - victory and defeat . In: Ecology Policy . November 1999 (  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) [accessed September 25, 2008]).