Election of the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein in 2005

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In the election of the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein by the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament on March 17, 2005 , the incumbent Prime Minister of the state, Heide Simonis ( SPD ), and the CDU state chairman and newly elected chairman of the CDU parliamentary group, Peter Harry Carstensen , ran for candidates . Neither candidate received the required majority in four ballots. The state parliament adjourned without electing a prime minister. Six weeks later, on April 27, 2005, Carstensen was finally elected Prime Minister of a grand coalition of the CDU and SPD.

initial situation

After the state elections on February 20, 2005 , the CDU received 30, the SPD 29, the FDP four, Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen also four and the South Schleswig Voters' Association (SSW) two seats in the state parliament. Thus neither the CDU and FDP (together 34 seats) nor the SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen (33 seats) had a majority of the votes in the state parliament. Instead of striving for a grand coalition of the CDU and SPD, the Social Democrats began coalition talks with the Greens. The coalition agreement concluded between the SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen was finally confirmed on March 15, 2005 at special party conferences of both parties.

The SSW agreed to tolerate the red-green coalition and to give it the necessary majority of 35 votes in the state parliament with its two votes. The motion submitted by the parliamentary groups of the SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen to include a basic committee mandate for the SSW MPs in the state parliament's rules of procedure was resolved immediately before the election of the Prime Minister.

Text of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure

At that time, the constitution of the State of Schleswig-Holstein in the version of June 13, 1990 (last amended by the law amending the constitution of the State of Schleswig-Holstein and the referendum law of February 14, 2004) was valid. The provisions for the election of the Prime Minister in Article 26 read:

“(2) The Prime Minister is elected by the Landtag without debate. He or she appoints and dismisses the state ministers and appoints a representative from this group.
(3) The Prime Minister is elected who has the majority of the votes of the members of the State Parliament.
(4) If nobody receives this majority in the first ballot, a new ballot takes place. If the election does not come about in the second ballot either, the person who receives the most votes in a further ballot is elected. "

According to the state parliament's rules of procedure (Section 63 (3)), the election of the Prime Minister was to be carried out by secret ballot :

“In elections there must be a secret ballot. It takes place by submitting voting slips. On the proposal of the President or on request, voting can be held openly, unless eighteen MPs object. "

Ballots on March 17, 2005

Item 6 of the agenda of the constituent meeting of the 16th state parliament of Schleswig-Holstein was "Election and swearing-in of the Prime Minister". The parliamentary groups of the SPD and Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen proposed Heide Simonis, the candidate of the parliamentary groups of the CDU and FDP was Peter Harry Carstensen.

First ballot

The discussion of the agenda item, which began at 1:18 p.m., led to a secret vote. The President of the Landtag, Martin Kayenburg (CDU), announced the result after the public counting at the presidential chair: 33 MPs had voted for Peter Harry Carstensen and 34 MPs for Heide Simonis; two MPs (presumably one each from the camp of the SPD, Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and SSW on the one hand and CDU and FDP on the other) abstained. The President then ordered a second ballot to follow immediately.

Second ballot

In the second ballot, too, the required majority was not obtained for any of the candidates: With one abstention, Heide Simonis again received 34 votes, while Peter Harry Carstensen this time also received 34 votes; so presumably at least one member of the SPD, Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen or SSW did not vote for Heide Simonis.

Third ballot

In the third ballot, a simple majority of the MPs was sufficient according to Article 26, Paragraph 4, Clause 2 of the Constitution of Schleswig-Holstein . However, since there was again a stalemate between Carstensen and Simonis (34 to 34 votes with one abstention), this ballot did not lead to the result either. At 14:15, the President of the Parliament interrupted the plenary meetings of the political groups and called for 15:15 the elders one.

While Heide Simonis declined to comment after the ballot, the SPD parliamentary group leader Lothar Hay said he was “deeply disappointed” by the MP who “wants to make history”. Hay now had a secret test vote carried out within the SPD parliamentary group, and the Greens did the same. The chairwoman of the SSW in the state parliament, Anke Spoorendonk , said she was “more than irritated and angry” about the voting results and questioned the tolerance of the red-green coalition by the SSW. The leader of the FDP parliamentary group, Wolfgang Kubicki , spoke out in favor of a grand coalition, but immediately after the interruption of the meeting he speculated - correctly - that the SPD wanted to try another election. The CDU general secretary Volker Kauder asked the then acting Prime Minister Heide Simonis to withdraw from another candidacy.

Fourth ballot

The council of elders decided on a fourth ballot in its meeting. At 4:19 pm the result was announced; again there was a tie of 34 to 34 votes with one abstention, although all members of the parliamentary group had voted for Heide Simonis in the previous secret votes of the SPD and Alliance 90 / The Greens. The request of the SPD parliamentary group leader Lothar Hay to interrupt the session of one hour with a subsequent meeting of the council of elders was approved.

In the evening, the President of the State Parliament announced an agreement from the Council of Elders. The political groups had agreed not to hold another ballot on March 17th. The next plenary session of the state parliament should take place on April 27th.

Consequences

The following day, Heide Simonis announced that she would no longer be available for a renewed candidacy as Prime Minister. The search for a “ deviator ” within the SPD remained fruitless and was stopped on March 24, 2005. The question of a deviator from the other groups (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen or SSW) was not publicly pursued. End of September 2005 Simonis said in an interview with the political magazine Cicero , that they know mean, who the dissenter. But she won't name him. Other media had previously speculated that she suspected her Finance Minister Ralf Stegner (SPD), which she denied.

New candidates

Since the constitution did not explicitly mention a third or fourth ballot, but only a “further” ballot, it seemed possible to continue the election of the Prime Minister as long as desired until there was no more stalemate. It was speculated that instead of Heide Simonis, the acting finance minister of Schleswig-Holstein Ralf Stegner could run for office. According to information from the news magazine Der Spiegel , the state parliament's scientific service should check whether the SPD could propose another candidate for a new ballot. The SSW, which was seen by many observers as the biggest loser in the failed formation of a government, had stated, however, that the tolerance of a red-green minority government after the failed election of Heide Simonis as head of government was no longer an option.

Possibility of new elections

New elections to the state parliament were also discussed, but according to Article 13 paragraph 2 of the constitution of Schleswig-Holstein a two-thirds majority in the state parliament would have been necessary. It was not possible to give a clear answer whether the acting Prime Minister could still put the vote of confidence in accordance with Article 36 of the Constitution and, if answered negatively, dissolve the Landtag. Articles 13 (2) and 36 of the Constitution read:

“The state parliament can end the electoral period prematurely with a majority of two thirds of its members while simultaneously setting a date for new elections. (Article 13 (2))
If the Prime Minister poses a vote of confidence in a motion without obtaining the consent of the majority of the members of the Landtag, the Prime Minister can terminate the electoral term prematurely within ten days. "(Article 36 Paragraph 1 Clause 1)

Continuation of government

Until the successful election of a Prime Minister by the 16th state parliament, Prime Minister Heide Simonis and the other members of the government continued their offices in accordance with Article 27 paragraph 2 of the state constitution. The term of office of this executive state government was formally unlimited, as the case of the so-called " Black Cabinet " shows: From October 2, 1987, Schleswig-Holstein had an executive state government without a government majority under the leadership of the Minister for Federal Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Henning Schwarz (CDU ) until Björn Engholm (SPD) could be elected as the new prime minister on May 31, 1988 after an early election of the state parliament. Article 27 (2) of the Constitution read:

“If the office of the Prime Minister ends, he or she and with him or her the other members of the state government are obliged to continue the business until the successor takes office. At the request of the Prime Minister, a State Minister has to continue the business until a successor is appointed. "

Fifth ballot on April 27, 2005

After the failed prime ministerial election on March 17, 2005, the CDU and SPD agreed to start negotiations to form a grand coalition , which led to success. The coalition agreement was confirmed by the statutory organs of the CDU and SPD.

In the fifth ballot for the election of the Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein, Peter Harry Carstensen was the candidate proposed jointly by the CDU and SPD. He received 54 of 69 valid votes cast. Seven MPs voted against him, eight abstained. Carstensen received five votes fewer than the new government factions CDU and SPD together. Peter Harry Carstensen was thus elected the twelfth Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein; he was the first properly elected CDU Prime Minister since Uwe Barschel , who resigned on October 2, 1987.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ SPD aims to form a government with Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen and SSW. In: media information. SPD Schleswig-Holstein, March 1, 2005, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  2. ^ Draft: Tolerance agreement on the basis of a minority government in Schleswig-Holstein. (PDF; 106 KB) SPD Schleswig-Holstein, March 16, 2005, archived from the original on May 29, 2005 ; accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  3. ^ Parliamentary groups of the SPD and BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN: Amendment of the rules of procedure of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag. (PDF; 13 KB) In: Drucksache 16/8. Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, March 16, 2005, p. 2 , accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  4. ^ Parliamentary groups of SPD and BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN: election of the Prime Minister. (PDF; 14 KB) In: Drucksache 16/7. Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, March 15, 2005, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  5. ^ Parliamentary groups of the CDU and FDP: election of the Prime Minister. (PDF; 10 KB) In: Drucksache 16/6 (new). Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, March 16, 2005, accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  6. ↑ Fourth ballot should bring the decision. In: Spiegel Online. March 17, 2005, accessed November 13, 2016 .
  7. ^ Declaration by Prime Minister Heide Simonis. (PDF; 237 KB) In: vorwärts: Wir in Schleswig-Holstein, No. 4/2005. SPD Schleswig-Holstein, archived from the original on April 29, 2005 ; accessed on November 13, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Dirk von Nayhauß: "I can park again". In: Cicero. Retrieved November 13, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Susanne Gaschke: A rumor and its destructive effect. In: Die Zeit No. 13/2005. March 23, 2005, accessed November 13, 2016 .
  10. ^ Parliamentary groups of CDU and SPD: election of the Prime Minister. (PDF; 10 KB) In: Drucksache 16/38. Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament, April 26, 2005, accessed on November 13, 2016 .