| Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | Landtag |
| Leadership | |
| President | Ralf Wieland, SPD since 27 October 2011 |
| Members | 149 |
| Political groups | SPD (47) CDU (39) Greens (29) The Left (19) Pirates (15) |
| Elections | |
| Last election | 18 September 2011 |
| Meeting place | |
| Preußischer Landtag | |
| Website | |
| abgeordnetenhaus.de | |
The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin is the state parliament (Landtag) for the German state of Berlin, according to the state's constitution. The parliament is based at the building on Niederkirchnerstraße in Mitte which until 1934 was the seat of the lower house of the Preußischer Landtag. The current president of the parliament is Ralf Wieland, SPD.
Contents |
The Abgeordnetenhaus ("House of Representatives") parliament was established by the new constitution of West Berlin in 1951. It replaced the former city legislature called Stadtverordnetenversammlung (city deputies assembly), established by the Prussian Reforms in 1808 and re-established by Allied-initiated state elections of 1946.
Between 1951 and 1990 Abgeordnetenhaus was a parliament of restricted autonomy, since according to the Allied Control Council all its legislation and its elections, such as those of mayors and the senators (then still elected and not yet appointed by the mayor), were subject to Western-Allied confirmation or rejection. Abgeordnetenhaus continued to be the parliament of united Berlin.
The parliament of Berlin is chosen every five years in a general, free, secret and direct ballot according to the principle of proportional representation. It consists of at least 130 representatives, 78 chosen directly in the electoral districts of the Berlin boroughs, and 52 indirectly from land or district lists. If a party wins more constituency seats than its overall share of the vote, the overall size of the Abgeordnetenhaus increases because of these overhang mandates. There is an election threshold of 5%.
The distribution of seats as of the 2011 elections (compared to the 2006 election) is:
The Free Democratic Party lost all 13 seats.
The consideration and passing of legislation is the most important task, including the government budget. In addition, the parliament chooses the Governing Mayor of Berlin, and checks the city's government, the Berlin Senate.
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