President of the Bundestag

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The President of the Bundestag (German: Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages or Bundestagspräsident) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence, his office is ranked second right after the President and before the Chancellor. The current President of the Bundestag is Norbert Lammert, since October 18, 2005.

1 Election and customs
2 Vice presidents
3 Legal background
4 Duties
5 References

[edit] Election and customs

The President of the Bundestag is elected during the constituent session of each election period after the Federal elections by all members of the Bundestag. The president has to be a member. Until the election of the president, the session is chaired by the Alterspräsident, the oldest member of the Bundestag.^[1]

Usually, the President of the Bundestag is a member of the largest parliamentary group. This custom had emerged already in times of the Weimar Republic, but this is not required by law. The term ends with the election period, and there is no provision for an early deposition. He can be reelected in the next election period provided he becomes a member of the Bundestag again.

Traditionally, the President of the Bundestag is elected uncontested, and the only exception so far has been in 1954. After the unexpected death of Hermann Ehlers, Ernst Lemmer competed with the "official" CDU/CSU candidate Eugen Gerstenmaier and lost after three ballots with a difference of 14 votes (204 for Gerstenmaier, 190 for Lemmer, 15 abstentions).

[edit] Vice presidents

The President of the Bundestag has several deputies, the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag (German: Vizepräsident des Deutschen Bundestages or Bundestagsvizepräsident), who are supplied by the other parliamentary groups. The number of vice presidents was not fixed in the Bundestag's Geschäftsordnung (rules of order) until 1994, when it was decided that each parliamentary group should be represented by one vice president.^[1] After the 2005 election, the CDU/CSU and SPD changed the rules of order to grant a second vice presidential post to the SPD, a move that was opposed by the other parties, so there are six vice presidents in the 16th Bundestag: Susanne Kastner and Wolfgang Thierse for the SPD, Gerda Hasselfeldt for the CDU/CSU, Hermann Otto Solms for the FDP, Katrin Göring-Eckardt for Alliance '90/The Greens and Petra Pau for the Left Party.

[edit] Legal background

The legal foundation for the office is Article 40 of the Basic Law which states that the Bundestag elects a president and his vice presidents and is to give itself rules of order. Due to a 1952 Federal Constitutional Court decision, the Geschäftsordnung has to be enacted afresh in every election period, but usually the old rules are reenacted without change.^[2] The Geschäftsordnung regulates the duties of the President of the Bundestag and his vice presidents as well as their number.

[edit] Duties

The president's most important duty is to chair the sessions of the Bundestag. He determines the order of speakers and opens and closes the debates, and ensures that debates take place in an orderly fashion.^[3] In the case of grave disruption, he may exclude a member of parliament for up to 30 session days.^[4] All draft legislation initiated by the Federal Government, the Bundestag or the Bundesrat is addressed to him as well as all submissions and petitions from within or addressed to the Bundestag. The President of the Bundestag also chairs the Council of Elders, which manages the internal affairs of the Bundestag.^[5] For the election of a new Federal President, the President of the Bundestag convenes and chairs the Bundesversammlung.^[6]

Additionally, he receives the statements of account of the political parties, monitors party financing and regulates campaign cost reimbursement. The president also has police power over the premises of the parliament and oversees its police force, can veto any search and seizure there to protect the independence of the parliament,^[7] and acts as the employer of the Bundestag's public servants.