German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has signed a law to reduce the number of seats in the Bundestag from 736 to 630, German media reported.
“The reform aimed at reducing the number of Bundestag deputies comes into force. Steinmeier signed the relevant law,” the Zeit newspaper reported, citing the president’s office.
The newspaper recalls that earlier in March, the bill was passed by the Bundestag.
The law, in addition to reducing the number of parliamentary seats, provides for the introduction of a hard barrier of 5% to get into the Bundestag. Options, which until now allowed to get into parliament without passing this barrier are abolished.
The Bavarian state government and the Christian-Social Union Party are going to take the law to court because they believe that it violates the constitution.
