TheGerman Bundestag (commonly referred to asBundestag) is thelegislature ofGermany. It meets in Berlin, in theReichstag building, which was specially rebuilt ready for the Bundestag to move fromBonn.
The Bundestag has at least 598 members. Every 4 years the German people vote. After the 2017 election there were 709 members. In the election of 26 September 2021, 736 members were assigned - the base 598 seats plus 138overhang andleveling seats. The next elections are in 2025.
A party gets seats when it gets at least 5% of the votes or 3 direct mandates. Every voter has two votes, one for a person and one for a party. 299 members each represent a constituency, just as in the British House of Commons or the US House of Representatives. The other half are elected from a party list in eachLand. The total number of seats a party gets depends on the number of the second "party votes" it gets.
But if a party wins more constituency seats than its share of the party votes, then it keeps those extra seats. These extra seats, orextra mandates, are the reason the Bundestag sometimes has more than 598 members. If a party gets extra mandates, the other parties get some extra seats too to make sure every party gets exactly its share of party seats. This system of giving extra mandates was changed in 2013. Before 2013, if a party won extra mandates, then it got to put more members in the Bundestag, which gave the party more influence over the Bundestag than it won in the elections.
The Bundestag president is named Bärbel Bas. She oversees the sessions of the body.
↑The Rules of Procedure of the Bundestag (German:Geschäftsordnung) allocate one Vice-President to each political group (Fraktion). However, each candidate must still be elected by a parliamentary majority. Due to the AfD's rejection by other parties, no AfD candidate has reached such a majority.
↑Though the by-laws of the Bundestag do not mention such a position, the leader of the largest oppositionFraktion is called leader of the opposition by convention.
