Vice-President of the Bundestag Petra Pau is campaigning for a referendum on the Basic Law in order to strengthen support for democracy nationwide. "It's about re-establishing the Basic Law as a common foundation," said the Left Party politician in an interview with the German Press Agency. "Turning the Basic Law into a German constitution by means of a referendum could be a smart way to raise awareness of the fundamental values of our community."
Pau made her comments against the backdrop of the AfD's electoral success, particularly in East Germany. The East Berlin member of the Bundestag sees omissions in the unification process in 1990, when the former GDR joined the area of application of the West German Basic Law via Article 23. Article 146 was not used, which to this day stipulates that the Basic Law becomes invalid "on the day on which a constitution comes into force that has been freely adopted by the German people".
"After German unification, the opportunity would have been there for East and West and North and South to adopt a constitution with a referendum," said Pau. "We missed many opportunities. Now, at the end of a discussion process, there should at least be the deletion of Article 146." She was picking up on a suggestion by East German SPD politician Markus Meckel, which is also supported by Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left Party).
