Politics in the centre

The Role of the Landtag

Role 1: Elect
The Landtag elects the Landtag President, the Minister President, the members of the Constitutional Court, etc.

Role 2: Pass laws
Only the Parliament may pass laws, e.g. the Budget Act or the Schools Act.

Role 3: Supervise
The Landtag can demand information, statements or reports from the state government as part of its parliamentary supervisory competencies.

Role 4: Generate public awareness
In public plenary debates, the different points of view of the parliamentary groups represented in Parliament are presented for citizens and the media.

 

Elections and Government

In the Landtag election on January 18th, the CDU (Christian Democratic Party) received 37.2%, the SPD (Social Democratic Party) 23.7%, the FDP (Free Democratic Party) 16.2%, BÜNDNIS 90/DIE GRÜNEN (Alliance 90/The Greens) 13.7% and DIE LINKE (The Left) 5.4 % of all valid votes.

 This gave the CDU and FDP a majority of the votes and the seats in the Landtag. Both parties concluded a coalition agreement. Roland Koch,

who has held the office of Minister President of Hesse since February 2009, resigned from office on August 31st in 2010.

On the very same day Volker Bouffier got elected Minister President of Hesse by the CDU and the FDP caucus. Subsequently, the newly-elected

Bouffier appointed his ministers and the Landtag passed a voice of confidence in the state government by open ballot.

When the ministers were sworn in, the government was formed.

 

The Organization of the Landtag

The Landtag's main organ is the plenum, the plenary meeting of all MPs in the Landtag.

There are also 14 committees, including the Budgetary and Finance Committee, the Internal Affairs Committee, and the Committee for Work, Family and Health.

At the head of the Landtag is the President (Speaker). He represents the Landtag to the outside and, alternating with the Vice Presidents, leads the plenary sessions.

Together with the Vice Presidents, he forms the Presidency of the Landtag.

 

Parliamentary Groups in the Landtag

The MPs of a party elected to Parliament form parliamentary groups (at least five MPs). The groups' main role consists of preparing and specifying decisions, resolutions and opinions for the committee work and plenary debates.

In addition, they form task forces in which upcoming issues are prepared in detail.

 

Zugeordnete Medien:

Kurzbroschüre - Englisch (PDF-Datei)