After FDP withdrawal, the XXL state parliament referendum is also off the table
With the departure of the FDP from the Bavarian state parliament, the referendum it initiated to reduce the size of parliament is also off the table. The Bavarian FDP does not want to pursue the "XXL-Landtag verhindern" (prevent XXL state parliament) referendum any further, FDP state leader Martin Hagen told "Mediengruppe Bayern" (Friday).
The FDP began collecting signatures a year and a half ago after attempts to reduce the number of MPs failed due to the other parliamentary groups. It was supported by the Taxpayers' Association and the Association of the Self-Employed.
At the time, the FDP had justified the need for this with the supposed desire of the people of Bavaria for a smaller state parliament and the associated lower expenditure for taxpayers, as well as a possible further increase in the number of MPs after the election.
In the state elections two months ago, however, the number of MPs did not increase, but actually fell from 205 to 203 - partly because the FDP clearly missed out on re-entry with its result of just 3%. The fears that the state parliament would bloat into an XXL state parliament due to overhang and compensatory mandates had not been confirmed for the time being, said Hagen. This meant that there was no longer any urgency. However, reducing the number of constituencies would remain a political goal of the FDP in the future.
In the first step of the referendum, at least 25,000 signatures would have had to be collected; there is no time limit for this. Only then could an application for approval of the referendum have been submitted to the Ministry of the Interior. The FDP did not reveal how many signatures have been collected throughout Bavaria since the starting signal was given on September 27, 2022 on Munich's Marienplatz.
The FDP's withdrawal from the Bavarian state parliament has also led to the abandonment of their 'XXL-Landtag verhindern' (prevent XXL state parliament) initiative, which was a referendum sponsored by the party to reduce the size of the parliament. The FDP, headed by state leader Martin Hagen, decided against continuing with the referendum after the state elections, as the need for a smaller parliament no longer appeared urgent.
Source: www.dpa.com
