BERLIN, 12 March. (DPA/EP) –
The Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) have reached an agreement to reduce from 736 to 630 the number of deputies in the Bundestag, the lower house of the German Parliament, a change that will be effective after the general elections. of 2025.
Coalition sources cited by DPA have informed of this agreement that modifies the first draft of the reform presented at the end of January and that contemplated the reduction to 598 seats.
The new proposal will be voted on in Parliament on Thursday or Friday and is expected to be approved with most government parties.
The Bundestag was expanded to 736 seats after the 2021 general election. This was the highest number yet and due to trade-offs to avoid “orphan constituencies” where a first candidate is not directly elected by direct vote .
In the elections, a party list is also voted for, with which the final result is a mixture of direct election of candidates and through lists of candidates, respecting the proportionality of the vote at the national level.
The number of constituencies will remain at 299, but 331 mandates will be assigned through the federal state lists, instead of the 299 originally planned.
The aim is to reduce to a minimum the number of deputies who win a constituency with the first vote and fail to enter the Bundestag.
