The

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

of Saxony (german: Sächsischer Landtag), also known in English as the Saxon State Parliament, is the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

of the Free State of Saxony, one of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

's sixteen states. It is responsible for legislation, control of the government, and electing some state officials. The Landtag has existed in various forms since 1831, but the current body was established during German reunification in 1990. The Landtag is directly elected and has a term of five years.

Powers

As the legislative body of the Free State of Saxony, the Landtag is responsible for drafting and passing laws, including the state budget, as well as overseeing the activities of the state government and electing the

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. I ...

, the head of government. Draft laws may be introduced to the Landtag in various ways: by the proposal of at least six members, by any parliamentary group, by the state government, or by public petition. Draft laws are first sent by the President of the Landtag to a relevant committee, which considers the draft law and makes any amendments it considers necessary. The committee then submits a report to the Landtag recommending either its adoption or its rejection. The Landtag then debates and votes on the law. If it is adopted, it is submitted to the Minister-President and the relevant state minister for countersigning. It is then

promulgated Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...

by the state government and enters into force. As Saxony has a

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

, the state government is reliant on the confidence of the Landtag in order to serve. The Landtag is thus responsible for oversight of the government. The state constitution declares that the Landtag has a comprehensive right to question the government, who must respond to inquiries from parliamentary groups or individual Landtag members. Parliamentary groups may request debates on issues of relevance in the plenary, at which the state government is obliged to speak. Standing committees may also demand the presence of members of the state government to give statements. The first responsibility of the Landtag during each legislative period is the election of its presiding officer, the President of the Landtag, as well as the Vice-Presidents of the Landtag. The Landtag also elects the head of the state government, the Minister-President. The Minister-President must win an

absolute majority A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority r ...

of votes to be elected in the first round of voting; if no candidate achieves this, a simple majority suffices in further rounds. The Minister-President is then responsible for the appointment of the state cabinet. The Landtag also elects a number of other state offices, including the Commissioner for Data Protection, the Commissioner for Coming to Terms with the SED Dictatorship (german: Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur), the Commissioner for Foreigners, the President of the Saxon Court of Auditors, and the members of the Saxon Constitutional Court.

History

Some form of an assembly has existed in the state's predecessors since the Saxon

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in Europe, and its ori ...

was

enfeoffed In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...

with the Margraviate of Meissen in 1089. The local ''

ministeriales The ''ministeriales'' (singular: ''ministerialis'') were a class of people raised up from serfdom and placed in positions of power and responsibility in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire. The word and its German translations, ''Minist ...

'' regularly met with the Wettin margraves, consulting but also defending the interests of their own region. By the time Meissen was elevated to the Electorate of Saxony by the

Golden Bull of 1356 The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...

, the noble representatives of the estates formed a permanent advisory board. With the deputies of the Saxon cities, these ''Landstände'' councils gradually obtained a considerable voice until the 15th century: mainly in fiscal and military policies, later also in religious matters concerning the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

Kingdom of Saxony

A modern-style bicameral constitutionally-based legislature was introduced in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxo ...

in September 1831. In the wake of the tumultuous

1848 revolutions The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europe ...

, Saxony's Landtag extended voting rights (though still maintaining property requirements) and abolished poll taxes. In 1871, Saxony was incorporated into the German Empire, and more voting rights were gradually extended. Upon the introduction of

universal male suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slo ...

in 1909, the number of eligible voters almost tripled – from 264,000 in 1907 to 773,000 – and turnout increased dramatically (from 48% to 82%). The influx of previously disenfranchised working-class voters allowed the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(SPD) to win substantial representation for the first time since the 1890s, splitting the hitherto stable

National Liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

party system.

Free State

After the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, Saxony was re-established as a republic, adopting its modern title of "Free State". During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

period, Saxon politics were dominated by the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...

(DNVP), the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

(KPD), the

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...

(DVP), and later the ''

Wirtschaftspartei The Reich Party of the German Middle Class (german: Reichspartei des deutschen Mittelstandes), known from 1920 to 1925 as the Economic Party of the German Middle Classes (german: Wirtschaftspartei des deutschen Mittelstandes), was a conservative G ...

'' (WP) maintaining a significant presence. From 1926 onward, a series of right-wing coalition governments were led successively by the small Old Social Democratic Party (ASPD), the DVP, and the DNVP. After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, the Landtag ceased to have any real power, though it was never formally abolished. The Landtag was ''de facto'' re-established in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

in 1946, later becoming part of the

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

(East Germany). It functioned until its abolition in 1952, during which time it was dominated by the Socialist Unity Party (SED). The Landtag was formally re-established again upon Germany's legal reunification on 3 October 1990. It was elected on 14 October, and its inaugural sitting took place on 27 October. Since 1990, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has always been the largest party; it held an absolute majority of seats until 2004.

Electoral system

Elections to the Landtag are conducted via mixed-member proportional representation using closed party lists. Voters have two votes: a "first vote" for a directly-elected representative from one of a number of

single-member constituencies A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner vot ...

, and a "second vote" for a party list. In order to qualify for representation, a party must either gain 5% of the statewide list vote or win at least two constituencies.

First-past-the-post voting In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

is used for single-member constituencies, and the overall seat distribution is determined using the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest ...

. In the case of

overhang seats Overhang seats are constituency seats won in an election under the traditional mixed member proportional (MMP) system (as it originated in Germany), when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of ...

, the total number of seats in the Landtag is increased from the standard 120 (60 constituency seats and 60 party list seats) until no overhang seats remain, i.e. the number of

leveling seats Leveling seats ( da, tillægsmandat, sv, utjämningsmandat, no, utjevningsmandater, is, jöfnunarsæti, german: Ausgleichsmandat), commonly known also as adjustment seats, are an election mechanism employed for many years by all Nordic countrie ...

added is equal to the original number of

overhang seat Overhang seats are constituency seats won in an election under the traditional mixed member proportional (MMP) system (as it originated in Germany), when a party's share of the nationwide votes would entitle it to fewer seats than the number of ...

s. There is also a provision ensuring that, if a party wins an absolute majority of party votes but does not win an absolute majority of seats, an extra seat is awarded to that party at the expense of the other parties.

Current composition

2019 state election

AfD received its highest share of the vote in any state or federal election, while the CDU and The Left both fell to record lows in Saxony. Under normal circumstances AfD should have received 39 seats in the Landtag; however, due to positions 31–61 in their party list being ruled invalid and removed from the list, they had no candidates to fill the final seat. Thus, it remains vacant and there are only 119 members of the Landtag, one fewer than the standard minimum size. The CDU formed a government coalition with the Greens and the

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

. , colspan=13 align=center, LandtagSaxony19

, - ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Party ! colspan=4, Constituency ! colspan=4, Party list ! rowspan=2, Total
seats ! rowspan=2, +/- ! rowspan=2, Seats % , - ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 703,006 , 32.5 , 7.2 , 41 , 695,560 , 32.1 , 7.3 , 4 , 45 , 14 , 37.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD) , 613,585 , 28.4 , 22.0 , 15 , 595,671 , 27.5 , 17.7 , 23 , 38 , 24 , 31.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 265,871 , 12.3 , 8.7 , 1 , 224,354 , 10.4 , 8.5 , 13 , 14 , 13 , 11.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) , 192,489 , 8.9 , 2.6 , 3 , 187,015 , 8.6 , 2.9 , 9 , 12 , 4 , 10.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 166,920 , 7.7 , 5.5 , 0 , 167,289 , 7.7 , 4.6 , 10 , 10 , 8 , 8.4 , - ! colspan=13, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP) , 100,639 , 4.7 , 0.6 , 0 , 97,438 , 4.5 , 0.7 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Free Voters Free Voters (german: Freie Wähler, FW or FWG) in Germany may belong to an association of people which participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it involves a locally organized group of voters ...

(FW) , 98,353 , 4.6 , 2.6 , 0 , 72,897 , 3.4 , 1.8 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Die PARTEI (''Party for Labour, Rule of Law, Animal Protection, Promotion of Elites and Grassroots Democratic Initiative''), or Die PARTEI (''The PARTY''), is a German political party. It was founded in 2004 by the editors of the German satirical magazi ...

(PARTEI) , 12,557 , 0.6 , 0.4 , 0 , 33,618 , 1.6 , 0.9 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Human Environment Animal Protection The Human Environment Animal Protection Party (german: Partei Mensch Umwelt Tierschutz, short form: Animal Protection Party, german: Tierschutzpartei, links=no) is a political party in Germany, founded in 1993. In 2014 one candidate was elected ...

(Tierschutz) , – , – , 0.0 , – , 33,476 , 1.5 , 0.4 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party (NPD) , – , – , 0.0 , – , 12,947 , 0.6 , 4.3 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=black, , align=left,

Partei für Gesundheitsforschung The Party for Biomedical Rejuvenation Research (german: Partei für schulmedizinische Verjüngungsforschung; formerly ''Party for Health Research'' (german: Partei für Gesundheitsforschung)) is a single-issue political party in Germany that see ...

, – , – , New , – , 11,652 , 0.5 , New , 0 , 0 , New , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Blaue #TeamPetry Thüringen , 1,508 , 0.1 , New , 0 , 7,806 , 0.4 , New , 0 , 0 , New , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informa ...

(Piraten) , – , – , 1.6 , – , 6,632 , 0.3 , 0.8 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

Ecological Democratic Party The Ecological Democratic Party (german: Ökologisch-Demokratische Partei, ÖDP) is a conservative and ecologist minor party in Germany. The ÖDP was founded in 1982. The strongest level of voting support for the ÖDP is in Bavaria, where in ...

(ÖDP) , – , – , , – , 6,000 , 0.3 , 0.3 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=#110077, , align=left,

Party of Humanists The Party of Humanists () is a minor political party in Germany that first participated in the 2017 federal election. Party platform The underlying ideology is evolutionary humanism. The core themes of the Humanist Party are science and edu ...

(Humanisten) , – , – , New , – , 4,305 , 0.2 , New , 0 , 0 , New , 0 , - , , align=left, Dawn of German Patriots – Middle Germany (ADPM) , – , – , New , – , 3,948 , 0.2 , New , 0 , 0 , New , 0 , - , bgcolor=#005488, , align=left,

Party of Reason The Party of Reason (german: Partei der Vernunft, PDV) is a libertarian political party in Germany founded in 2009 by Oliver Janich. The party's policies are based on the Austrian School of economics. It campaigns for libertarian positions, in ...

(PDV) , – , – , , – , 2,268 , 0.1 , 0.1 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=#FF0000, , align=left, Communist Party of Germany (KPD) , – , – , , – , 1,951 , 0.1 , 0.1 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , , align=left,

Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität Bürgerrechtsbewegung Solidarität (BüSo), or the Civil Rights Movement Solidarity, is a German political party founded by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, the widow of U.S. political activist Lyndon LaRouche. The BüSo is part of the worldwide LaRouche mo ...

(BüSo) , – , – , 0.4 , – , 1,630 , 0.1 , 0.1 , 0 , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Other , 2,732 , 0.1 , , 0 , – , – , – , – , 0 , ±0 , 0 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 2,159,850 ! 98.7 ! ! ! 2,166,457 ! 99.0 ! ! ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Blank and invalid votes ! 28,636 ! 1.3 ! ! ! 22,029 ! 1.0 ! ! ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 2,188,486 ! 100.0 ! ! 60 ! 2,188,486 ! 100.0 ! ! 59 ! 119 ! 7 ! , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 3,288,643 ! 66.5 ! 17.4 ! ! 3,288,643 ! 66.5 ! 17.4 ! ! ! ! , - , colspan=13, Source
Statistisches Landesamt des Freistaates Sachsen

Historical composition

SN Landtagswahl 1990.svg, 1st Landtag SN Landtagswahl 1994.svg, 2nd Landtag SN Landtagswahl 1999.svg, 3rd Landtag SN Landtagswahl 2004.svg, 4th Landtag SN Landtagswahl 2009.svg, 5th Landtag SN Landtagswahl 2014.svg, 6th Landtag SN Landtagswahl 2019.svg, 7th Landtag

Members of the state government

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landtag Of Saxony

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Politics of Saxony