Woidke and Haseloff refuse
Prime Minister against referendum on the Basic Law
May 23, 2024, 3:47 a.m
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Thuringia’s Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow proposes abolishing the Basic Law and enacting a constitution instead. This plan has been criticized from Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt.
The Prime Ministers of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt, Dietmar Woidke and Reiner Haseloff, reject a referendum on the Basic Law. In a report in the magazine “Stern”, they opposed a corresponding proposal by their colleague from Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow. “75 years after its proclamation, the aim should not be to vote on the Basic Law, but rather to continue to fill it with life, to respect it and to preserve it,” said Haseloff, according to the report.
Ramelow had pointed out in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” that such a vote was already laid out in Article 146 of the Basic Law. The article limits the validity of the Basic Law to the day “on which a constitution comes into force that has been freely decided upon by the German people.” Such a step would help overcome an “emotional alienation” towards the Basic Law in East Germany and was also necessary because there are many conspiracy theorists who deduce from Article 146 that the Federal Republic does not exist. The 75th anniversary of the Basic Law is coming up this Thursday, and it refers to the proclamation of the Basic Law by the Parliamentary Council in 1949.
“There are still injustices between East and West that must finally be eliminated,” Woidke is quoted as saying by “Stern”. “Not a single East German benefits from referendums on Article 146 of the Basic Law.” The Basic Law has been the basis for freedom, prosperity and development in Germany for 75 years. He believes that abolishing Article 146 is the better way, said Woidke.
The Basic Law has also proven itself in the East for decades, Haseloff told “Stern”. “We East Germans don’t want to be taken into account at ceremonies and speeches, but rather where decisions are made: for example in leadership positions in companies, committees and federal authorities.” East Germans are still underrepresented here.