The BSW should have the election reviewed

The case for challenging the election is strong, given the clear evidence of irregularities — and the need for a strong voice against war and rearmament in the Bundestag

A commentary by Tobias Riegel, originally published in the German magazine NachDenkSeiten.

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There is considerable evidence suggesting that there were transmission errors, unprocessed overseas votes and other irregularities during the federal election, as reported by the Tagesschau, for example.

On X, BSW MEP Fabio De Masi announced that the party is examining whether it can contest the election, partly because of the problems with with overseas postal votes. De Masi has published further information here, here and here on X. In this article, the Frankfurter Rundschau addresses the question, and in the Berliner Zeitung, former Berlin FDP MP Marcel Luthe, who successfully challenged the 2021 parliamentary election in Berlin, explains that he also wants to investigate the federal election. On NachDenkSeiten, Florian Warweg has addressed the topic of election challenges in the articles “Prevented participation in elections by Germans abroad, the lack of interest of the federal government and other irregularities” and “Is BSW planning a legal challenge to the election and what about changing the party name?”.

I would welcome a review of the election by the BSW: given the many signs of irregularities, the narrow result for the BSW and the “relevance” of the mandate [the fact that a CDU-SPD coalition would not have been possible if BSW had got in, forcing the two main parties into a coalition with the Greens], reviewing specific areas is, in my opinion, not only justified but necessary to prevent the trust in election processes from being severely damaged. The process of fighting together to clarify potentially flawed events in the federal election could also strengthen the cohesion among BSW supporters.

It is not a question of “suing the BSW into the Bundestag” — it is, in fact, by no means certain that the party would exceed the 5 percent mark if, for example, missing votes from abroad (in whatever form) were to flow in. For this to happen, considerably more than 5 percent of Germans abroad would have to vote for the BSW in order to make up for the missing 13,435 votes among the total of 213,255 Germans abroad who are registered in the electoral register. There would also be another effect — one could then vote strategically and, by supporting the BSW, make it more likely that the Greens will remain in the next federal government. But these thoughts in no way invalidate the serious indications of formal deficiencies in the election process.

In view of the nail-biting nature of the BSW, the course of the federal election has drawn attention to a number of other questionable features of the electoral law: for example, it is not acceptable that the new Bundestag should decide on the legality of its composition itself. It should also be discussed that the current 5 percent threshold rule renders large numbers of votes worthless — in the last federal election, this was well over six million votes or 13 percent, according to the “More Democracy" initiative.

If the BSW were to enter the Bundestag, the Greens might enter the new federal government — that would be disastrous, but it is hard to imagine a situation more disastrous than the current one. Especially since the election result is now going to be blatantly ignored in order to push through special debts for weapons with the old parliament.

A review is not a verdict. This is all the more true in this case, as the results of a review or the inclusion of overseas votes could theoretically be to the detriment of the BSW, as described above. Nevertheless: if the party decides to review/challenge election results, the BSW will probably be insulted by many sides as a “German Trump” who is attacking the legitimacy of an election and thus “democracy”. This will probably happen regardless of the seriousness and quality of the objections to the election. But this should not be overestimated from the perspective of the “cross-party war party” and the media associated with it: these are, after all, the same people who have led us knowingly to the point where we are now — geopolitically and economically, including a massive shift to the right. From such quarters, moral lectures and platitudes about “democracy” can no longer be taken seriously. Hence: do not fear “bad press”.

Some of the behavior of BSW personnel at the state level was not wise, I have criticised this on the NachDenkSeiten here and here. But in my opinion the party should not be deprived of its trust at the federal level because of what is happening in the states. As already mentioned above, it is extremely urgent that the BSW is represented in the Bundestag as a strong voice against rearmament and for dialogue with Russia (and also with the US). The essential opposition work in the Bundestag is on a completely different level than what is happening in Thuringia and Brandenburg, and this should be borne in mind when making the next election decision.

Because of the currently heightened media manipulation in favour of escalation and rearmament, it is doubly important that the BSW’s voices are represented in the Bundestag (and consequently also in the media, talk shows, etc.), as Albrecht Müller also emphasised in this article. It is very unfortunate that in this sensitive situation, there is no consistent voice against militarisation in parliament. It is clear that neither the militaristic and neoliberal AfD nor the Left Party, which has consistently disappointed on issues of peace and Russia (among others), can assume this role.

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Thomas Fazi

Website: thomasfazi.net

Twitter: @battleforeurope

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