The SPD women have made parity a prerequisite for any voting‑law reform. Their federal chairwoman, Carmen Wegge, told the “Stern”: “For SPD women I can say plainly: no voting reform without parity”. She added that a change without parity would fall short of the demands of our era. “Women’s expectations are clear: it is time to take the next step”.
In the coalition agreement between the SPD and the CDU/CSU, the three‑party pact committed to reforming the current Bundestag electoral law and set up a commission to carry out that work. Two specific review tasks were outlined: first, to determine how a “gender‑balanced representation” of women in parliament could be secured; second, to assess whether the voting age should be lowered to 16.
The Women’s Union, however, has spoken cautiously about a parity rule. “I am fundamentally in favour of parity, but there are constitutional obstacles” said CDU federal chair Nina Warken in an interview with a news magazine. “Our aim must be a stable voting law”. She called for proposals on how all directly elected representatives could be seated in the Bundestag in the future. The current restrictions have meant that eight female members are not represented in the Bundestag, and Warken noted that this lack of female representation in constituencies and regions remains a problem.
