Small parties in the crisis: pressure through early new elections increases!

Small parties in the crisis: pressure through early new elections increases!

Today, Germany is facing a crucial phase in political competition: early new elections in particular put small parties under pressure. In this context, the challenges that the ecological-democratic party (ÖDP) and the Volt party have to deal with are great in order to be able to take part in the upcoming federal election.

The deadlines to submit the election documents and the collection of the necessary support signatures ended on January 20, which increases the pressure on the smaller political actors. While small parties are often in the shadow of the big ones, they now have to act under extremely tight time requirements. According to Azonline , the ÖDP complained against a strict signature regulation, but the Federal Constitutional Court rejected both the lawsuit and the urgent application. This urgently shows that the hurdles for small parties continue to exist.

essential for participation in the choice is the requirement that the state lists must be signed of at least 0.1 percent of the eligible voters of a federal state or a maximum of 2,000 people. This applies in particular to parties who cannot already provide five MPs in the Bundestag or state parliament, such as Tagesschau These regulations mean that many small parties are legally defending themselves against these requirements and calling changes in order not to endanger the integration of political preferences of voters.

candidates like Diel from the Volt party face additional challenges. She had to have every signature in the place of residence of the signatory confirmed, which is a significant hurdle in view of the time pressure and the need for a quick address check. Diel, who works as a lecturer for German as a foreign language and coordinates orientation courses for immigrants, sees realistic opportunities for her candidacy in the Bundestag, but the goal of starting in the district elections.

other smaller parties, such as the animal welfare party, express concern about the strict requirements and fear that many of them will not be on the ballot due to the difficult circumstances. Bastian Cornau from the animal protection party criticized the hurdles for small parties and warned of the danger that democratic competition will be significantly weakened by these restrictions.

In another context, ZDF stated that the last Bundestag elections showed logistical problems in Berlin, which repeatedly occurred in 455 voting districts. These challenges illustrate the complexity of the election process and the difficulties for new and smaller political actors to be heard in the current political climate.

The coming weeks will be crucial for the many small parties who fight for their existence in a tense political climate.