President of the Bundestag

The President of the German Bundestag, also called President of the Bundestag or the Bundestag President, the President of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany. He holds the highest office under the Federal President. He is therefore in front of the Federal State Protocol, the President of the Federal Council and the President of the Federal Constitutional Court. He is also concurrently the President of the Federal Assembly. Current incumbent is the CDU member of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert.

Choice

The President of the Bundestag is elected from among the German Bundestag. The selection is made by the MEPs in the inaugural meeting of the newly elected Parliament. Until the election of the meeting is led by the oldest member.

In general, the fraction with the most MPs President of the Bundestag. This practice has already been introduced in the Weimar Republic, although there is no legal requirement to do so. The term of office of the President of the Bundestag ends with the end of each legislature. It is thus not deductible in principle prematurely. A re-election in the next legislative period is possible, provided that the current incumbent is a Member of the new Bundestag again.

It is not common that there is a battle candidacy in the election for president. Only after the sudden death of Hermann Ehlers 1954 there was one exception. In the election on November 16, 1954 even two party colleagues competed against each other for the position of: Against the official CDU / CSU candidate Eugen Gerstenmaier Ernst Lemmer went to and lost until the third ballot with only 14 votes difference ( Gerstenmaier: 204, Lemmer: 190, abstentions: 15).

Deputy

The President of the Bundestag has more deputies ( vice-president of the German Bundestag or the Bundestag Vice President), which are usually provided by the other factions represented in the Bundestag.

Until the beginning of the 13th legislature in 1994 was not defined in the Rules of Procedure, as many deputies of the Bundestag president. There was only inter-party agreements, so it usually gave three vice-presidents. 1983 was the first attempt by the Greens to increase the number of Vice-Presidents for four to also be represented by a Vice- President of the Bureau. This application was repeatedly rejected. Only in 1994 the minimum number has been changed so that each group must be represented by at least one vice president. Consequently, the German Bundestag from 1998 to 2002 five Vice-Presidents ( the PDS was represented in fraction starch), 1994-1998 and 2002-2005, there were four Vice-Presidents. After the 2005 federal election, the SPD, CDU and CSU agreed in their exploratory talks that the SPD should appoint two Vice-Presidents. An application has been accepted at the inaugural meeting against the votes of the FDP, the Greens and the Left Party. Thus, six deputies were elected in the 16th electoral term. In the 17th legislature again only got each faction a vice president for a total of five. In the 18th legislature get both SPD and CDU / CSU two Vice-Presidents. Although the FDP is no longer represented in the Bundestag, the number of deputies, increasing again to six.

Legal foundations

The legal basis for the federal president and his deputy is later Article 40 of the Basic Law. Thereafter, the Bundestag shall elect its President and his deputy. In addition, the Bundestag own rules of procedure.

The rules of procedure to be adopted after each general election, according to a ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court of 1952. In practice, however, the existing Rules of Procedure is usually reissued. Now and again it has been also changed. It regulates, among other things, the rights and duties of the President of the Bundestag and the number of Vice-Presidents.

Tasks

The main function of the President of the Bundestag is in the line of the parliamentary sessions. To this end, he takes the front of the podium in the plenary of the Bundestag place, so sitting the other MPs against. The Bundestag President represents the Bundestag and is the addressee of all bills and templates that are introduced by the Federal Government, the Federal Council or from the middle of the Bundestag. He is also the recipient of all inputs that come from the ranks of Parliament or be directed to the Bundestag.

In addition, the President has the right house and the police force, which is enforced by the police at the German Bundestag. He is also the supreme authority of the federal officials, where he meets certain hiring decisions together with the entire Board.

Other rights and duties of the President of the Bundestag are governed by the Rules of Procedure.

The President of the Bundestag is also the recipient of the annual reports of political parties, monitors the observance of political donations laws and regulates the election campaign expenses.

Income

The President of the Bundestag all vice presidents currently receives about 16,500 euros per month (1/ 2013) of diets (actually " parliamentary allowance " ) and additional packages ( tax-free " lump sum " of about 4,000 euros, " office expense allowance " of about 1,000 euros ) each 12,400 euros plus packages. The fee is reduced if you do not participate in the meetings of the Bundestag.

The amount of the diet of the President and the Vice President is in the Lower Act, § 11, paragraph 2, set. The fee is in § 12 para 2 ( for all the Members ), the office expense allowance in § 12 para 5, fixed.

The diet of the President of the Bundestag is substantially higher than that of the Chancellor; their remuneration are almost equal to those of the Federal President ( the highest representative of the State).

Presidents of

Presidium

The Bundestag president and his deputy form the federal Bureau. The following table gives an overview of President and Vice President, ordered by legislatures and political groups:

1 Unless marked separately, members of the CDU.

2 To the extent not marked separately, members of the party Die Linke.

3 Ludwig Schneider joined 1956 on the newly established outdoor People's Party, which merged in 1957 with the beginning of the German party. As a representative of the FDP Max Becker was nachgewählt the presidium.

4 On April 23, 1958 it was voted the fourth Vice President Victor- Emanuel Preusker as a candidate of the FVP / DP, where he succeeded against Erwin Schoettle (SPD). Preusker took effect in July 1960 from the DP and moved in September to the CDU. On October 4, 1960, he resigned his vice president.

5 In the 16th electoral term of the Left Party / PDS candidate Bisky was not elected in four rounds, after which the party decided to leave the post initially unoccupied, although her would have been entitled on the basis of their size, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Bundestag deputy. On 7 April 2006, a representative of the party with Petra Pau finally was still elected to the presidency.