President of the Bundestag

The President of the Bundestag (German: Präsident des Deutschen Bundestages or Bundestagspräsident) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker in other countries. In the German order of precedence, his office is ranked second after the President and before the Chancellor. The current President of the Bundestag is Norbert Lammert, since October 18, 2005.

Election and customs

The President of the Bundestag is elected during the constituent session of each election period after the Federal elections by all members of the Bundestag. The president has to be a member. Until the election of the president, the session is chaired by the Father of the House, the so-called Alterspräsident, the oldest member of the Bundestag.

Usually, the President of the Bundestag is a member of the largest parliamentary group. This custom had emerged already in times of the Weimar Republic, but this is not required by law. The term ends with the election period, and there is no provision for an early deposition. He can be reelected in the next election period provided he becomes a member of the Bundestag again.

Traditionally, the President of the Bundestag is elected uncontested, and the only exception so far has been in 1954. After the unexpected death of Hermann Ehlers, Ernst Lemmer competed with the "official" CDU/CSU candidate Eugen Gerstenmaier and lost after three ballots with a difference of 14 votes (204 for Gerstenmaier, 190 for Lemmer, 15 abstentions).

Vice Presidents

The President of the Bundestag has several deputies, the Vice Presidents of the Bundestag (German: Vizepräsident des Deutschen Bundestages or Bundestagsvizepräsident), who are supplied by the other parliamentary groups. The number of vice presidents was not fixed in the Bundestag's Geschäftsordnung (rules of order) until 1994, when it was decided that each parliamentary group should be represented by one vice president. After the 2005 election, the CDU/CSU and SPD changed the rules of order to grant a second vice presidential post to the SPD, increasing the total number of Vice Presidents of the 16th Bundestag to six. This move was opposed by the other parties. In 2009 there were 5 Vice Presidents and in 2013 6 once again.

As of October 2013, the current Vice Presidents of the Bundestag are:

• Peter Hintze (CDU)
• Johannes Singhammer (CSU)
• Edelgard Bulmahn (SPD)
• Claudia Roth (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen)
• Petra Pau (Die Linke)
• Ulla Schmidt (SPD)

Legal background

The legal foundation for the office is Article 40 of the Basic Law which states that the Bundestag elects a president and his vice presidents and is to give itself rules of order. Due to a 1952 Federal Constitutional Court decision, the Geschäftsordnung has to be enacted afresh in every election period, but usually the old rules are reenacted without change. The Geschäftsordnung regulates the duties of the President of the Bundestag and his vice presidents as well as their number.

Duties

The president's most important duty is to chair the sessions of the Bundestag. He determines the order of speakers and opens and closes the debates, and ensures that debates take place in an orderly fashion. In the case of grave disruption, he may exclude a member of parliament for up to 30 session days. All draft legislation initiated by the Federal Government, the Bundestag or the Bundesrat is addressed to him as well as all submissions and petitions from within or addressed to the Bundestag. The President of the Bundestag also chairs the Council of Elders, which manages the internal affairs of the Bundestag. For the election of a new Federal President, the President of the Bundestag convenes and chairs the Bundesversammlung.

Additionally, he receives the statements of account of the political parties, monitors party financing and regulates campaign cost reimbursement. The president also has police power over the premises of the parliament and oversees its police force, can veto any search and seizure there to protect the independence of the parliament, and acts as the employer of the Bundestag's public servants.

List of presidents

Political Party

      CDU       SPD

No.	Name (Birth–Death)		Term of Office		Political Party
			Took Office	Left Office
1	100px	Erich Köhler (1892–1958)	7 September 1949	18 October 1950	CDU
2		Hermann Ehlers (1904–1954)	19 October 1950	29 October 1954	CDU
3		Eugen Gerstenmaier (1906–1986)	16 November 1954	31 January 1969	CDU
4		Kai-Uwe von Hassel (1913–1997)	5 February 1969	13 December 1972	CDU
5		Annemarie Renger (1919–2008)	13 December 1972	14 December 1976	SPD
6	100px	Karl Carstens (1914–1992)	14 December 1976	31 May 1979	CDU
7	100px	Richard Stücklen (1916–2002)	31 May 1979	29 March 1983	CSU
8	100px	Rainer Barzel (1924–2006)	29 March 1983	25 October 1984	CDU
9	100px	Philipp Jenninger (born 1932)	5 November 1984	11 November 1988	CDU
10	100px	Rita Süssmuth (born 1937)	25 November 1988	26 October 1998	CDU
11	100px	Wolfgang Thierse (born 1943)	26 October 1998	18 October 2005	SPD
12	100px	Norbert Lammert (born 1948)	18 October 2005		CDU

Presidium of the Bundestag

The Presidium of the German Bundestag consists of the President of the Bundestag and a variable number (currently 6) of Vice-Presidents of the Bundestag.

The president is elected by all members of the Bundestag during its first meeting; he almost always comes from the largest Fraktion in the Bundestag (tradition has made this a sort of unwritten law). His administration ends with the end of a legislature; he can, however, be re-elected, as long as he is also re-elected to the Bundestag.

In 1994 it was decided that every Fraktion in the Bundestag should be represented by a Vice President.

The most important role of the president is the direction of the Bundestag sittings. To demonstrate the importance of the parliament in Germany's democracy, the parliament's president receives a higher salary than the Chancellor and the Federal President.

Books

Michael F. Feldkamp (ed.), Der Bundestagspräsident. Amt - Funktion - Person. 16. Wahlperiode, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-7892-8201-0