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Democracy Exists Only When It’s Permitted - Braunsbedra City Council Votes Against Citizens’ SurveyHow “democracy” functions in Germany—or fails to—is vividly illustrated by the example of Braunsbedra, standing in stark contrast to what is currently being propagandized. On May 15, 2024, another city council meeting took place, addressing whether a citizens’ survey could be held regarding the use of agricultural land for solar parks. It turned into a battle over whether this question could, should, or even may be asked at all. buergerstimme.net has reported on this multiple times (Democracy in Braunsbedra - Difficult to Impossible?, Uprising in Braunsbedra - or: The Difficult Path to Democratic Citizen Participation). The hall in Braunsbedra’s town hall on May 15 was utterly insufficient. Numerous citizens had to settle for standing room. One citizen pointed out that, knowing so many citizens wanted to attend this meeting, the council could have moved to the gymnasium. This was acknowledged by the mayor but nothing more. The audibility was also criticized, as there was no microphone system. Some struggled to understand what those speaking softly were saying. This, too, was merely noted. One could get the impression that this was quite intentional. The solar park issue divides the city and is not new. A citizen reported that as early as 2021, they had suggested holding a citizens’ survey on this matter. This could have avoided the current uproar. Evidently, the city council saw no reason to do so over the past three years. Many citizens wanted to ask questions on this topic. However, since the time for citizen questions was limited to 30 minutes, further questions were to be answered in writing afterward. This seems pointless when the city council was set to vote on these very issues on May 15, 2024. The Braunsbedra Citizens’ Initiative was supported by lawyer Uwe Berthold from Flöther & Wissing. He criticized that it took two hours for this topic, which interested so many citizens, to reach the agenda. He stated that the legal opinion commissioned by the mayor regarding whether such a citizens’ survey or initiative was legally permissible was incorrect. A citizens’ survey would be permissible at this stage. Since there is no case law in Saxony-Anhalt on citizens’ surveys in this context, he advised the initiative against going to court, as the outcome of such a proceeding would be uncertain. He noted that biodiversity suffers from such solar parks and that this should be considered by the councilors when voting, especially if environmental protection is a concern. The city council, meeting in this configuration for the last time, rejected the proposal for a citizens’ survey with the usual majority. I suspect that many tricks and nitpicking were used to prevent a citizens’ survey from happening at this time, ensuring that the Sonnenquelle solar park project in Krumpa is no longer at risk. However, I’m not sure if the mayor and the councilors who voted on this did themselves any favors. Their handling of the citizens who elected them—or hope to be re-elected—certainly raises questions. This example clearly shows the true state of democracy in Germany. It’s local and EU election season. Suddenly, democracy is important to all parties. Citizen participation is deemed essential and necessary. Citizens are supposed to get more involved, have a say, and help shape things. And democracy must be defended against its enemies. Who would be considered a democracy enemy in Braunsbedra? Bringing Democracy Back to the City CouncilIn Braunsbedra, 15 members of the Citizens’ Initiative are running in the local election. They want to bring democracy back to the city council. Among the parties running, for instance, in the EU election, there are those committed to grassroots democratic citizen participation. Direct democracy is not a priority—or not an issue at all—for the current governing parties. So far, they have failed or chosen not to enshrine more, or any, direct democracy in law. Those interested can find plenty of information online. The events in Braunsbedra perfectly illustrate that true democracy—in the sense of rule by the people—only exists when it is permitted or deemed legally admissible. It should be noted that the laws cited here, which effectively prevent genuine democracy, were passed by the current people’s representatives. Since laws are not set in stone and can be amended or repealed at any time, voters can decide with their vote in the upcoming elections whether they want more direct democracy in the future or if the current representative democracy, where they can cast their vote but elected officials are not at all obligated to keep their campaign promises, is sufficient. Even though it’s only a local election, elected representatives at the municipal level can exert pressure upward to ensure laws are passed that implement what all parties currently proclaim: democracy. Further opinions can be found, among others, on the Facebook profile of the Braunsbedra Citizens’ Initiative and https://www.bi-braunsbedra.de/ Author: AI-Translation - Michael Thurm | vor dem 01.07.2024 |
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