Markus Söder, the CSU chairman and Bavarian premier, told the newspaper “Stern” that a voting‑law reform proposed in the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition agreement-halving the number of constituencies and imposing mandatory gender parity-will almost certainly fail a constitutional review. “A voting‑law reform that halves constituencies and forces parity between men and women will be constitutionally doomed” he said, directly refuting the SPD’s stance.
The social democrats insist that any reform must preserve parity. “A key step would be to require parties to submit gender‑balanced state lists” said Johannes Fechner, the SPD’s parliamentary manager. Likewise, co‑minister Bärbel Bas had previously told the Bundestag, “If a new voting law is introduced, it can only be passed with parity”.
Fechner added that the Union already implements gender‑balanced lists in several state associations. “That is why we do not understand what the Union has against a legal regulation” he said. The SPD warns that letting the reform fail would be a lost opportunity. “It would be a shame if our discussions on voting reform fell on deaf ears” Fechner cautioned.
According to a “Stern” report that quoted the Union’s parliamentary group, parity rules are still viewed as “unthinkable and non‑majority‑winning” within the CDU. The dispute has become even more complex because the SPD sees a linkage between the voting‑law debate and the commission working on reforming the debt‑brake. Söder expressed his aim: “Every constituency winner must truly enter the Bundestag” he said, arguing that this reflects common sense and democratic transparency. “That is why we will not open the gate for debt reform” he added, claiming that doing so would be disproportionate.