Fraktion (English: faction or fraction) is the name given to recognized parliamentary groups in the German Bundestag.[1] In order to form a recognized parliamentary group (Fraktion), a lesser group (Gruppe) needs at least 5% of the members of the Bundestag.[2] As there is also a 5% election threshold, with parties over this threshold usually getting assigned more than 5% of the seats, almost all groups can nearly automatically declare themselves factions, but due to conflicts, or as a result of below-threshold access granted to regional groups, this is not always the case. Also, even a group has to have at least three members to become recognized as a Gruppe and gain more rights than the individuals have.

The plenary hall of the German Bundestag is divided into factions.

Current factions

edit

Following German unification in October 1990, members of the East German parliament joined, resulting in some joint ventures until the 1990 German federal election in December.

  • CDU/CSU faction since September 1949[3]
    • October 1990 to December 1990 CDU/CSU/DSU faction
  • SPD faction since September 1949[4]
  • FDP faction September 1949 to October 2013 and since September 2017[5]
  • Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group since October 1994[6]
    • Faction The Greens March 1983 to October 1990
    • Faction The Greens/Alliance 90 October 1990 to December 1990
    • Group Alliance 90/The Greens, December 1990 to October 1994
  • AfD parliamentary group since September 2017[7]

Former factions

edit

In the early years of the Bundestag, 1949 to 1960, several parties had faction or group status before disappearing. After that, the only groups existing were formed by members of the former SED:

  • Group of the PDS October 1990 to September 1998
  • PDS faction September 1998 to September 2002
  • Faction The Left September 2005[8] to December 2023

References

edit
  1. ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - Fraktionen". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  2. ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - IV. Fraktionen". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  3. ^ "cducsu.de – Die CDU/CSU-Fraktion im Deutschen Bundestag". www.cducsu.de. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  4. ^ "SPD-Bundestagsfraktion". SPD-Bundestagsfraktion (in German). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Zustimmung zu Cookies | FDP Bundestagsfraktion". www.fdpbt.de. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  6. ^ Bundestagsfraktion, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. "Startseite". Bundestagsfraktion Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (in German). Retrieved 26 May 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ "Startseite". AfD-Fraktion im deutschen Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  8. ^ "Archiv - Fraktion DIE LINKE. im Bundestag". www.linksfraktion.de. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. ^ "Start". Gruppe Die Linke im Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 17 February 2024.

See also

edit