Former Bundestag President Norbert Lammert (CDU) has spoken out against the removal of the five percent threshold for Bundestag elections. Speaking to the “Rheinische Post”, he stated that he cannot see any necessity or real practical justification for the proposal. Lammert argued that the five percent clause has demonstrably not prevented new parties from gaining entry into the German parliament over the past decades.
He pointed to examples such as the Greens and the AfD, who successfully gained parliamentary seats. Furthermore, he noted that the Linke was able to re-enter the Bundestag in 2025 despite internal divisions within the Wagenknecht faction.
According to Lammert, the argument that the threshold acts as a protective measure for established parties is unfounded. He added that it is not conducive to the operational efficiency of a political system to encourage political fragmentation through the electoral procedure.
The blocking clause is designed to curb parliamentary splintering. However, Hans-Jürgen Papier, the former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, suggested a different view earlier this week. To the “Tagesspiegel”, Papier stated that the five percent threshold is “no longer contemporary” and called for the electoral barrier to be lowered from five to three percent.
