Federal Convention (Germany)

The Federal Convention, also known as the Federal Assembly ( ), is, together with the Joint Committee, one of two non-permanent constitutional bodies in the institutional framework of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Federal Convention consists of all members of the federal parliament (Bundestag) and the same number of state delegates, who are allocated proportionally to the sixteen German states on the basis of the number of inhabitants eligible to vote on federal level. Those state delegations are elected by the state parliaments ad hoc. The Federal Convention is convened solely for the purpose of electing the President of Germany and has no other function.

Convening the Federal Convention

Each Federal Convention is convened by the incumbent president of the Bundestag in due course. Normally, this takes place during the last months of a sitting president's current term of office. The Convention must meet no later than thirty days before the end of the term, with the state parliaments needing sufficient time between the convening and the meeting to elect the state delegations. The state electors are elected by the state parliaments through a list voting system. In practice, this means that the composition of the state delegations is proportional to the distribution of seats in the respective state parliaments. However, since the list voting must be conducted by secret ballot, deviations may (and sometimes do) occur.

If the term of office of a president ends prematurely through resignation, death or impeachment, the Federal Convention must meet within thirty days. This has happened three times so far (1969, 2010 and 2012); in 2010 and 2012, the president of the Bundestag convened the Assembly at the latest possible date. Heinrich Lübke's resignation (1968/69) is a special case: he announced in October 1968 that he would resign with effect from June 30, 1969, in order to enable the Federal Convention to be held before the start of the Bundestag election campaign in the fall of that year. Since the resignation was announced about nine months in advance, the Federal Convention could be held as usual before the (early) end of his term of office.

Procedure

The President of the Bundestag chairs the Federal Convention ex officio. At the start of the session, the President usually delivers a short address. The Federal Convention must then adopt its own rules of procedure. However, at every Federal Convention to date, it has been decided that the current version of the Bundestag’s rules of procedure should be applied by analogy. This is followed by the election, for which every member of the Convention may propose candidates; however, nominations require the consent of the nominee in order to be accepted. In the first two rounds of voting, an absolute majority of all members of the Federal Convention is required for a successful election. In the third round, the candidate with the most votes is elected. Should a deadlock arise at this stage, further rounds of voting follow. Before each ballot, nominees may withdraw their candidacy or new candidates may be proposed. If a person has been elected in accordance with these rules, they have two days to accept the election; otherwise, it is deemed to have been rejected. In the latter case, too, further ballots would have to take place. If an elected candidate accepts the election, the Federal Convention is dissolved.

The new president takes office, after the term of his predecessor has ended. Only in the case of a vacancy (e.g. after the resignation of the predecessor, as happened in 2010 and 2012), the elected person takes office immediately upon acceptance of the election. Irrespective of this, a newly elected president does not take the oath of office before the Federal Convention, but after taking office in a joint session of the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.

Membership

The Federal Convention includes the entire membership of the Bundestag, and an equal number of state delegates elected by the state or Länder parliaments specifically for this purpose, proportional to their population.

According to federal law, every member of a state parliament has one vote. The delegates are elected with lists and proportional vote. Some details are dealt with by the standing orders of the state parliament. In many state parliaments, the members vote on a joint list that mirrors the strengths of the parliamentary groups.

A delegate for the Federal Convention must meet one certain standard: they must also be eligible for a candidacy for the Bundestag. The parliamentary groups sometimes elect delegates who are not politicians. For example, they choose artists, sports persons or other celebrities, or occasionally an ordinary citizen with an unusual story. Examples from 2017 are Jogi Löw, the coach of the national football team, for the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg and Olivia Jones, Germany's most famous drag queen, for the Green Party in Lower Saxony. Semiya Şimşek, daughter of a NSU terror victim, was elected by Die Linke in Thuringia.

The idea behind this custom is to have the president be elected not only by politicians but by a broader segment of the population. Also, the political parties like to be associated with the celebrities. They expect these non-politicians to vote within party lines. The voting in the Federal Convention is secret. From the time of their nomination until the closing of the session of the Federal Convention its members enjoy parliamentary immunity with regard to prosecution by public authorities in very much the same way as members of the Bundestag do.

History

thumb|right|The 1954 convention in the Ostpreußenhalle in Berlin

Since 1979, the Federal Convention has traditionally met on 23 May, the anniversary of the Basic Law (1949). This has changed since the resignations of presidents Horst Koehler and Christian Wulff.

The most recent assembly of the Federal Convention was held on 13 February 2022, where Frank-Walter Steinmeier was re-elected.

Venue

On 12 September 1949, the first Federal Convention met in Bonn, which served as the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany before reunification with East Germany. From 1954 to 1969 the Federal Convention was convened at the Ostpreußenhalle in Berlin, leading to protests from the German Democratic Republic on each occasion it met. As a consequence, on 5 March 1969, the Soviet Union sent MiG-21 warplanes to fly over the venue in West Berlin. From 1974 to 1989, the Federal Convention met in the Beethovenhalle in Bonn. Since 1994, the meeting place has been the Reichstag building in Berlin. After the renovation of the Reichstag, the German Bundestag moved to the building in April 1999. Since the meeting of the Federal Convention held in May 1999, the body has convened in the plenary chamber at the Reichstag building, except that the 2022 Federal Convention took place at the Paul-Löbe-Haus in Berlin, with delegates spread over several floors, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notes

References

External links

Distribution of seats in the Bundesversammlung
Election of the Federal President
Article 54 – Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Grundgesetz, GG)
Law on the Election of the President by the Federal Assembly (German)