The Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia is the state parliament (Landtag) of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which convenes in the state capital of Düsseldorf, in the eastern part of the district of Hafen. The parliament is the central legislative body in the political system of North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to the passage of laws, its most important tasks are the election of the Minister-President of the state and the administration of the government. The current government is a coalition of the CDU and the Greens, supporting the cabinet of Minister-President Hendrik Wüst since June 2022.
The most recent state election took place on 15 May 2022.
Legislature
The State Parliament is the central legislative body of the state. It establishes or changes laws that fall within its legislative authority, which includes the regulation of education, police matters, and municipal law.
Legislative process
Bills can be brought before the parliament by a parliamentary group (caucus) or a group of at least seven members of parliament. Additionally, the state government itself can bring relevant bill proposals to parliament for consideration. In practice, most bill proposals originate from the government. These generally are detailed proposals submitted in writing. They are first read and heavily discussed in a plenary assembly open to all members of parliament, before being given over to a specific committee (or sometimes more than one) that is organized around a relevant subject matter and will therefore provide specific counseling on the matter. If necessary, the bill proposal will also be delivered to external experts that are in contact with lobby groups, and to those who will be directly affected by the bill's passage. The specific parliamentary committees will then pass the reformulated bill with recommended decisions back to the parliament at large for a second reading. At this stage, members of parliament again make suggestions regarding the bill. Each member has the ability to make suggestions to change the bill, and afterwards, the assembly will vote on each proposed amendment individually before finally voting on the entire bill.
Bills are enacted by majority vote, as the constitution does not require any more stringent criteria for passage. The parliament operates by a quorum decision-making process, meaning that only half of its legal members must be present. Constitutional amendments and the budget must go through the advisory process three times, instead of the standard two. For any proposed legislature, a third reading, deliberation, or committee counseling can be requested either by a party or by at least a quarter of the assembly. The president of the parliament delivers each ratified law to the Minister-President, who signs and disseminates it as part of her duties as head of state for North Rhine-Westphalia. The law enters into force after it is written in the Law and Ordinance Record for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen).
Petitions and referendums
Referendums in Germany are similar to bill proposals from parliament and the state government in that they can be submitted by the people to parliament to undergo the same legislative process. If parliament rejects the referendum, then a plebiscite is undertaken in which the people at large can vote. A successful plebiscite leads to the referendum being passed as law. A plebiscite can also be enacted at the request of the government, if parliament fails to pass one of their proposed bills. In practice, this form of direct democracy does not play a large role in the legislative process.
Limitations of legislative authority
The authority of the state parliament in numerous legal areas has waned in the last few decades. This is due to the overriding legal authority of the federal government in Berlin. Indeed, while the Federal Reforms of 2006 more clearly defined the legal authorities of both federal and state governments, especially with regards to each other, it has also led to greater legislative activity by the federal government in many areas, which has in turn narrowed the field of authority possessed by the states. The European Union likewise has a strong influence on the passage of laws at the national level. Other than the direct participation of the state President-Ministers in the Bundesrat of Germany, the states have no direct contact with the European Union. However, through the Bundesrat, each state has a direct say in national matters, including those that involve the EU.
Election of minister-presidents As stated in Article 51 of the State Constitution, the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia elects the minister-president of North Rhine-Westphalia "from its center" ("aus seiner Mitte") in a secret election that requires at least half of parliament's legally-seated members to vote in favor. Therefore, the Minister-President must always first be a member of parliament. If a majority of affirmative votes is not reached in the first vote, a second (and possibly third) vote is held within 14 days, with whoever winning a simple majority becoming Minister-President. If no such majority results, a runoff vote between two nominees takes place. The winner of this vote then becomes Minister-President. Abstentions and invalid votes do not count as votes cast.Wolfgang Löwer, Peter J. Tettinger: Kommentar zur Verfassung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2002, S. 815 Thus far, the Minister-President has always been approved in the first vote, with the exceptions of the reelection of Franz Meyers on 25 July 1966Artikel im Spiegel 1 August 1966 and the election of Hannelore Kraft on 14 July 2010, both of whom were elected in the second round of voting. The removal of the Minister-President is possible at any time through a motion of no confidence, which requires a majority of dissenting votes. As of 2013, there have been two successful votes of no confidence on the State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia (the first on 20 February 1956 and the second on 8 December 1966). Parliament has no direct influence on the appointment or dismissal of other state ministers, who (together with the Minister-President) make up the government. A vote of no confidence dissolves the government and therefore automatically dismisses all state ministers.
Provided that no single party wins an absolute majority, a coalition is formed in most cases between several parties whose members together make up a majority of parliament and who can, therefore, easily elect an agreed upon Minister-President. Occasionally the governing coalition is a minority government. The Minister-President, in most cases, puts the government together with people from the coalition parties. In practice, the election of a Minister-President leads to a stable government with a clear majority that can exert considerable influence over the legislative process and thus pursue its own legislative agenda.
Though the electorate does not vote directly for the Minister-President, the selected person is generally a dominant figure in the state political system, and since the larger parties declare their lead candidate before the election, voting for a particular party means voting in favor of having that lead candidate be in the running for President-Minister. The lead candidate for smaller coalition parties are regularly included in the government as ministers.
Control of the government
Compared to the state government, the state parliament has extensive powers. It can call members of government in for questioning before parliament, and it has the power to approve the state budget proposed by the government. Parliament also votes on closed states contracts. And, as mentioned above, parliament has the power to dissolve the government through a motion of no confidence. The Court of Audit controls the use of state funds by all state governmental bodies. This court likewise controls the finances of the parliament, but it also reports to parliament, which elects the court's highest members.
Election of constitutional judges Parliament elects four members of the Constitutional Court for the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (Verfassungsgerichtshof für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen) to terms of six years each. Altogether this court has seven members. The long term of office, which is staggered so that each judge will not face reelection at the same time, ensures that parliament cannot place undue pressure on the court through election manipulation. This is meant to strengthen the independence of the judges on the court.
Election of members to the Federal Convention While the state government appoints representatives to the Bundesrat at its own discretion, parliament elects the state's representatives to the Federal Convention. The number of representatives of each party present in the Federal Convention is dependent on how many representatives belonging to that party are in the state parliament. Based on population statistics, North Rhine-Westphalia is responsible for about a fifth of the members of the Federal Convention. Roughly half of these individuals are, by virtue of their membership in the federal parliament (Bundestag (Germany), already members of the Federal Convention. The state parliament fills all those seats designated to the state that remain.
Organization The majority of work by the parliament takes place in committees, rather than in plenary sessions (which include all parliament members). In general, members of the state parliament are career politicians and sit together according to what party they belong to. At the beginning of each legislative period, parliament members elect a Präsidium, which is headed by the president of the parliament (distinct from the minister-president), and a Council of Elders (Ältestenrat), which is essentially a board to help with managerial issues. It is also during this period that committee seats are filled.
President of the parliament
The Präsidium is headed by the president of the parliament (Landtagspräsident), who is chosen from among the ranks of parliament. In general, the president of the parliament comes from the largest constituent political party in the government. The following individuals have been parliament president:
President Party In office Ernst Gnoß SPD 10/02/1946 12/19/1946 Robert Lehr CDU 12/19/1946 04/19/1947 Josef Gockeln CDU 04/19/1947 12/06/1958 Wilhelm Johnen CDU 01/13/1959 04/19/1966 Josef Hermann Dufhues CDU 04/19/1966 07/23/1966 John van Nes Ziegler SPD 07/25/1966 07/25/1970 Wilhelm Lenz CDU 07/27/1970 05/28/1980 John van Nes Ziegler SPD 05/29/1980 05/29/1985 Karl Josef Denzer SPD 05/30/1985 05/29/1990 Ingeborg Friebe SPD 05/31/1990 05/31/1995 Ulrich Schmidt SPD 06/01/1995 06/02/2005 Regina van Dinther CDU 06/08/2005Plenarprotokoll der konstituierenden Sitzung des 14. Landtags von Nordrhein-Westfalen 8 June 2005 06/09/2010Artikel auf www.wdr.de 9 June 2010 Edgar Moron SPD 06/10/2010 07/13/2010 Eckhard Uhlenberg CDU 07/13/2010 05/31/2012 Carina Gödecke SPD 05/31/2012 06/01/2017 André Kuper CDU 06/01/2017 present
Members
Election
Overview The Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia is elected by a system of personalized proportional representation. Parliament members are selected by a universal, equal, direct, secret, and free vote. Parliament has at least 181 members. Additionally, the inclusion of overhang seats and leveling seats is possible. 128 members are elected by a direct mandate to represent specific constituencies. The remaining seats are allocated to candidates who appear on party lists. Each voter has two votes. The first vote is cast directly for a candidate to represent a specific district. The second vote is for a party and largely determines the relative size of each party's bloc in the new parliament.
Eligible voters