Бундестаг — это парламент Федеративной Республики Germany (Deutscher Bundestag), a unicameral government body representing the interests of the entire German people. It was created as the successor to the Reichstag according to the law of 1949, and since 1999 it has been located in Berlin. Currently, the German parliament is headed by Christian Democrat Norbert Lammert, who has held this position since October 18, 2005. It is the Bundestag that elects the Federal Chancellor, who is the head of the German government.
By its political structure, Germany is a parliamentary republic, in which the Bundestag is the most important authority:
After the reunification of Germany, the Bundestag moved toReichstag building, built at the end of the 19th century and reconstructed by architect Norman Foster. From 1949 to 1999, meetings were held in the Bundeshauz (Bonn).
The buildings in which the ownedParliamentary offices are built side by side on both sides of the River Spree and in German are called Paul-Löbe-Haus and Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus in honor of two prominent parliamentarians-democrats.
German parliamentary elections are usually held every four years, except in cases of early dissolution.
The Bundestag is a parliament whose electionscarried out on a hybrid system, that is, the deputies are elected in equal proportions on party lists and single-mandate majoritarian constituencies in one round. The Bundestag consists of 598 deputies, of which 299 are elected by voting in constituencies. The mandates received by candidates from parties as a result of direct elections (by majority districts) are added to the list of deputies from this party, calculated by the proportional electoral system.
На выборах в парламент Германии мажоритарный the element does not participate in the distribution of seats between the parties, except when one of the parties receives more deputies on the single-mandate system than it would receive on the basis of the party list system alone. In such cases, the party may receive a certain number of additional mandates (Überhangmandate). For example, the 17th Bundestag, which began its work on October 28, 2009, consists of 622 deputies, of which 24 are holders of additional mandates.
The Federal President (Bundespräsident) has the right to dissolve the Bundestag in two cases:
May 22, 2005, after the defeat of his party onregional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced his intention to vote on the issue of trust in order to give the president "all the power necessary to overcome the current crisis state."
Как и следовало ожидать, Бундестаг ФРГ отказал Gerhard Schroeder in confidence (for: 151 votes, against: 296 votes, abstained: 148 votes). After that, the Chancellor filed a formal petition for the dissolution of the Bundestag in the name of Federal President Horst Köhler. On July 21, 2005, the president issued a decree to dissolve parliament and set an election date for September 18, the first Sunday after school holidays and the last Sunday, not going beyond the 60-day term set by the constitution. On 23 and 25 August, the Constitutional Court rejected appeals filed in three small parties, as well as deputies Elena Hoffman from the SPD and Werner Schulz from the Green Party.
Бундестаг — это орган, наиболее важными structural units of which are parliamentary groups, which are called factions. Parliamentary groups are organizing the work of the legislature. For example, they prepare the work of commissions, introduce bills, amendments, etc.
Каждая фракция состоит из председателя (Fraktionsvorsitzender), several vice-presidents and a presidium, which meets every week. During debates and voting, it is traditionally customary to observe strict party discipline (Fraktionsdiziplin). The German parliament is notable for the fact that it is usually voted on by the sign of the chairman of the parliamentary faction.
The Bundestag also includes the Council of Elders(Ältestenrat) and the Bureau. The council consists of a presidium and 23 elders (leaders of parliamentary groups). It is usually used to hold negotiations between parties, in particular on the issues of chairmanship of parliamentary committees and agendas. As for the presidium, it includes at least the chairmen and vice-chairmen from each faction.
Each ministry corresponds to oneparliamentary committee (currently their number is 21). The general management is carried out by the chairman of the Bundestag, at present this position is occupied by Norbert Lammert.
