Landtag of Saxony
Landtag of the Free State of Saxony Sächsischer Landtag | ||
---|---|---|
7th Landtag of Saxony | ||
President of the Landtag | ||
Structure | ||
Seats | 119 | |
Political groups | Government (67)
Opposition (52) | |
Elections | ||
Mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) | ||
Last election | 2019 | |
Next election | 2024 | |
Meeting place | ||
Saxon Landtag (building) | ||
Website | ||
www |
The Landtag of Saxony (German: Sächsischer Landtag), also known in English as the Saxon State Parliament, is the legislature of the Free State of Saxony, one of Germany's sixteen states.[1] It is responsible for legislation, control of the government, and electing some state officials.[2] The Landtag has existed in various forms since 1831, but the current body was established during German reunification in 1990.[3] The Landtag is directly elected and has a term of five years.[4]
Powers
As the legislative body of the Free State of Saxony, the Landtag is responsible for drafting and passing laws, including the state budget, as well as overseeing the activities of the state government and electing the
Draft laws may be introduced to the Landtag in various ways: by the proposal of at least six members, by any parliamentary group, by the state government, or by public petition. Draft laws are first sent by the President of the Landtag to a relevant committee, which considers the draft law and makes any amendments it considers necessary. The committee then submits a report to the Landtag recommending either its adoption or its rejection. The Landtag then debates and votes on the law. If it is adopted, it is submitted to the Minister-President and the relevant state minister for countersigning. It is then promulgated by the state government and enters into force.[5]
As Saxony has a parliamentary system, the state government is reliant on the confidence of the Landtag in order to serve. The Landtag is thus responsible for oversight of the government. The state constitution declares that the Landtag has a comprehensive right to question the government, who must respond to inquiries from parliamentary groups or individual Landtag members. Parliamentary groups may request debates on issues of relevance in the plenary, at which the state government is obliged to speak. Standing committees may also demand the presence of members of the state government to give statements.[6]
The first responsibility of the Landtag during each legislative period is the election of its
History
Some form of an assembly has existed in the state's predecessors since the Saxon
Kingdom of Saxony
A modern-style bicameral constitutionally-based legislature was introduced in the Kingdom of Saxony in September 1831. In the wake of the tumultuous 1848 revolutions, Saxony's Landtag extended voting rights (though still maintaining property requirements) and abolished poll taxes. In 1871, Saxony was incorporated into the German Empire, and more voting rights were gradually extended.[8]
Upon the introduction of
Free State
After the
The Landtag was de facto re-established in the
The Landtag was formally re-established again upon Germany's legal reunification on 3 October 1990. It was elected on 14 October, and its inaugural sitting took place on 27 October.[8] Since 1990, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has always been the largest party; it held an absolute majority of seats until 2004.[13]
Electoral system
Elections to the Landtag are conducted via
In the case of
There is also a provision ensuring that, if a party wins an absolute majority of party votes but does not win an absolute majority of seats, an extra seat is awarded to that party at the expense of the other parties.[14]
Current composition
2019 state election
AfD received its highest share of the vote in any state or federal election, while the CDU and The Left both fell to record lows in Saxony. Under normal circumstances AfD should have received 39 seats in the Landtag; however, due to positions 31–61 in their party list being ruled invalid and removed from the list, they had no candidates to fill the final seat. Thus, it remains vacant and there are only 119 members of the Landtag, one fewer than the standard minimum size. The CDU formed a government coalition with the
Party | Constituency | Party list | Total seats |
+/- | Seats % | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | +/- | Seats | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | |||||
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 703,006 | 32.5 | 7.2 | 41 | 695,560 | 32.1 | 7.3 | 4 | 45 | 14 | 37.8 | |
Alternative for Germany (AfD) | 613,585 | 28.4 | 22.0 | 15 | 595,671 | 27.5 | 17.7 | 23 | 38 | 24 | 31.9 | |
The Left (Die Linke) | 265,871 | 12.3 | 8.7 | 1 | 224,354 | 10.4 | 8.5 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 11.8 | |
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | 192,489 | 8.9 | 2.6 | 3 | 187,015 | 8.6 | 2.9 | 9 | 12 | 4 | 10.1 | |
Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 166,920 | 7.7 | 5.5 | 0 | 167,289 | 7.7 | 4.6 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8.4 | |
Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 100,639 | 4.7 | 0.6 | 0 | 97,438 | 4.5 | 0.7 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Free Voters (FW) | 98,353 | 4.6 | 2.6 | 0 | 72,897 | 3.4 | 1.8 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Die PARTEI (PARTEI) | 12,557 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0 | 33,618 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Human Environment Animal Protection (Tierschutz) | – | – | 0.0 | – | 33,476 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
National Democratic Party (NPD) | – | – | 0.0 | – | 12,947 | 0.6 | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Partei für Gesundheitsforschung
|
– | – | New | – | 11,652 | 0.5 | New | 0 | 0 | New | 0 | |
Blaue #TeamPetry Thüringen | 1,508 | 0.1 | New | 0 | 7,806 | 0.4 | New | 0 | 0 | New | 0 | |
Pirate Party Germany (Piraten) | – | – | 1.6 | – | 6,632 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Ecological Democratic Party (ÖDP) | – | – | – | 6,000 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
Party of Humanists (Humanisten) | – | – | New | – | 4,305 | 0.2 | New | 0 | 0 | New | 0 | |
Dawn of German Patriots – Middle Germany (ADPM)
|
– | – | New | – | 3,948 | 0.2 | New | 0 | 0 | New | 0 | |
Party of Reason (PDV) | – | – | – | 2,268 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
Communist Party of Germany (KPD) | – | – | – | 1,951 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität (BüSo) | – | – | 0.4 | – | 1,630 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | ±0 | 0 | |
Other | 2,732 | 0.1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 0 | ±0 | 0 | ||
Valid votes | 2,159,850 | 98.7 | 2,166,457 | 99.0 | ||||||||
Blank and invalid votes | 28,636 | 1.3 | 22,029 | 1.0 | ||||||||
Total | 2,188,486 | 100.0 | 60 | 2,188,486 | 100.0 | 59 | 119 | 7 | ||||
Electorate/voter turnout | 3,288,643 | 66.5 | 17.4 | 3,288,643 | 66.5 | 17.4 | ||||||
Source: Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen |
Historical composition
-
1st Landtag
-
2nd Landtag
-
3rd Landtag
-
4th Landtag
-
5th Landtag
-
6th Landtag
-
7th Landtag
Members of the state government
Government office | Picture | Name | Party | State Secretary | Party | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Minister President | Michael Kretschmer | CDU
|
|||||
First Deputy of the Minister President | Wolfram Günther | B'90/Die Grünen | |||||
Saxon State Ministry for Energy, Climate protection, Environment und Agriculture (SMEKUL) | Gerd Lippold
Gisela Reetz |
B'90/Die Grünen | |||||
Second Deputy of the Minister President | Martin Dulig | SPD
|
|||||
Saxon State Ministry for Economic Affairs, Labour and Transport (SMWA) | Hartmut Mangold
Ines Fröhlich |
SPD | |||||
Saxon State Ministry of the Interior (SMI) | Roland Wöller | CDU | Thomas Rechentin Head of office |
CDU | |||
Saxon State Ministry of Finance (SMF) | Hartmut Vorjohann | CDU | Dirk Diedrichs Head of office |
non-party | |||
Saxon State Ministry of Justice and for Democracy, European Affairs and Equality (SMJ) | Katja Meier | B'90/Die Grünen | Mathias Weilandt
Gesine Märtens |
B'90/Die Grünen | |||
Saxon State Ministry of Education (SMK) | Christian Piwarz | CDU | Herbert Wolff | CDU | |||
Saxon State Ministry of Science (SMWK) | Sebastian Gemkow | CDU | Andrea Franke | CDU | |||
Saxon State Ministry of Culture and Tourism (SMWK) | Barbara Klepsch | CDU | |||||
Saxon State Ministry of Social Affairs (SMS) | Petra Köpping | SPD | Uwe Gaul (until July 5, 2021) Sebastian Vogel (since July 6, 2021) Dagmar Neukirch |
SPD | |||
Saxon State Ministry of Regional Development (SMR) | Thomas Schmidt | CDU | Frank Pfeil | non-party | |||
Head of the Saxon State Chancellery and State Minister of Federal matters and Media | Oliver Schenk | CDU | Thomas Popp Digital Administration and Administrative modernization (Member of the state government) Conrad Clemens |
CDU |
See also
References
- ^ a b "Parliament - The Saxon Landtag". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Landtag - The Saxon Landtag". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Landtag History - The Saxon Landtag". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Parliament - The Saxon Landtag". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Legislation". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Control of Government". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Elections in the Landtag". Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Dresden discussion groups in the Ständehaus graduate college "History of Saxon State Parliaments" from 28-30 October 2015" (PDF). Landtag of Saxony. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Estate Assembly of Saxony 1869-1918". Wahlen-in-deutschland.de. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Landtag elections 1918-1933". Wahlen-in-deutschland.de. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Saxony: the General Ministry 1918-1933". Gonschior.de. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich". Retrieved 26 February 2023.
- ^ "Landtag elections in Saxony". Wahlen-in-deutschland.de. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
- ^ a b c "Wahlsystem der Landtagswahl 2019 in Sachsen". wahlrecht.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-02-25.