Overview
- Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) called for exploring a constitutionally viable path to gender parity in the Bundestag as part of the ongoing reform.
- SPD leaders said they will back further changes only with parity, and a coalition commission is examining how to pair that goal with restoring guaranteed constituency seats after the 2025 rules left 23 district winners without mandates.
- Prominent CDU women, including caucus women’s chair Mechthild Heil, endorsed linking the reform to parity, with the debate intensifying ahead of a CDU party convention in Stuttgart next weekend.
- State constitutional courts in Brandenburg and Thuringia struck down parity statutes and the Federal Constitutional Court declined a complaint, making a durable federal rule likely contingent on a Basic Law amendment requiring a two‑thirds majority.
- CSU parliamentary leader Alexander Hoffmann argued parity is not constitutionally realizable and would intrude on party autonomy and voter choice, while low female membership in the CDU/CSU highlights practical obstacles.