AfD on democracy and the state

The AfD wants sovereign powers that were handed to bodies such as the EU, the UN, or the WHO returned to parliaments. Former members of the state government and the state parliament would have to wait five years before working for lobbying organizations.

The AfD wants to take powers back from the EU, the UN and the WHO. Parliaments should decide again. Former ministers and lawmakers should wait five years. Only then may they work for lobby groups. Lobby groups try to influence politics.

According to the platform, lobbyists and non-governmental organizations often shape political decisions; it names the World Economic Forum and Deutsche Umwelthilfe (an environmental group). It also says the federal and Bavarian governments are handing sovereign powers to supranational organizations. In the AfD's view, both erode the sovereignty of Bavaria and Germany. Its remedy is to return these powers and impose a five-year waiting period before lobbying work.

The AfD wants to lower the hurdles for referendums in Bavaria, citing Switzerland as its model. Citizens should also be able to vote government bodies out of office in cases of serious failure. The platform rejects citizens' assemblies as a substitute for direct participation.

The AfD wants more referendums. A referendum is a vote by the people on one question. The rules for this should become easier. People should also be able to vote a government out if it fails badly. There should be advice centers for referendums.

The lower hurdles would apply to votes at the state level, in the districts (Bezirke), and in the counties. In addition, the AfD wants independent advice centers for referendums at every level of government. The platform criticizes governments for increasingly handing contested questions to citizens' assemblies and using their recommendations against citizens' participation rights. The AfD names Switzerland as its model.

The AfD wants to cut the Bavarian state parliament from its current 205 members to no more than 180, saying it is too large and too costly. The state premier and lawmakers would be limited to two consecutive terms. The legislative term would go back to four years instead of five.

The AfD wants a smaller state parliament. It should have at most 180 members. Today it has 205. The state premier and the lawmakers should serve only two terms in a row. Elections should take place every four years instead of every five.

The reduction would be achieved by having fewer electoral districts. The limit of two consecutive terms is meant to keep lawmakers from becoming lifelong politicians. Only adults should continue to be allowed to vote. Former state premiers, ministers and state lawmakers should not be able to sit on the Bavarian Constitutional Court. With a view to the separation of powers, the AfD also wants judges selected independently of politics and prosecutors freed from instructions by the justice minister.

The AfD wants to end Bavaria's annual state payments to the major churches through a final settlement, calling them outdated. Services the churches provide to society would be billed individually. The state would also stop collecting the church tax.

Bavaria pays money to the big churches every year. The AfD wants to end these payments. When churches do something for society, the state should pay for each service separately. The state should no longer collect the church tax.

According to the platform, Bavaria pays about 100 million euros a year to the major churches. The payments go back to the secularization of the early 19th century, when church property passed to the state. The AfD presents these demands under the heading of separating church and state. Instead of lump-sum payments, specific church services would each be paid for separately.

The AfD wants to change Bavarian municipal law so that small opposition parties are guaranteed representation in municipal and county councils. Rules on how committee seats are allocated and on the minimum size of a council group would be set by statute rather than by each council's own rules of procedure.

The AfD wants to protect small parties in local councils. Every party should have a seat on the committees. A committee is a small working group of the council. The rules for this should be written into law.

According to the platform, alliances of very small parties formed to share committee seats should not result in the AfD being left without committee seats. The seat allocation method and the minimum number of members for a council group would be fixed by state law so that councils cannot set them at will. Council groups would get their own right to submit motions, as in the state parliament. The AfD rejects preliminary reviews in which the administration keeps motions from being debated. A reform should also stop the misuse of payments for group meetings.

The AfD wants the judiciary to administer itself instead of depending on the government. In the platform's view, the executive currently controls funding, resources and the hiring of judges and prosecutors, which it says undermines the independence of the courts.

The AfD wants the courts and prosecutors to run themselves. Today the government decides on their money and staff. The AfD says this makes the courts dependent on politicians.

The platform says the finance minister allocates or cuts staff and resources depending on the budget, and that politicians decide through their officials who is hired as a judge or prosecutor. According to the AfD, this harms citizens' right to access the courts, to fair and timely proceedings and to appeals. The party backs a demand by the German Association of Judges and points out that self-administration of this kind exists in most European countries. The judiciary would manage its own organization just as parliament and government do.

The AfD wants to give Bavaria's justice system more staff and reform it. Public prosecutors would no longer be bound by instructions from the government, which the party says would prevent political misuse. The platform also calls for stable and clear legislation.

The AfD wants more staff for the courts in Bavaria. Prosecutors should no longer take orders from the government. The AfD says this stops politicians from misusing them. Laws should be clear and should not change all the time.

The platform justifies the reform by pointing to long waiting times, overly bureaucratic proceedings and what the AfD sees as partly political use of prosecutors' offices. Ending the duty to follow instructions is meant to separate the government more clearly from the judiciary. The party rejects any parallel justice system, such as Sharia courts, as well as lighter sentences based on an offender's cultural background. Legal policy should be guided by stability, clarity and predictability; the platform cites Bavaria's frequently amended COVID protection ordinance as a negative example.

The AfD wants essential public services in Bavaria to remain publicly owned. This is to be written into the constitution. It applies above all to municipal water supply.

Some services are essential, like water. The AfD wants the state and towns to own these services. This should be written in the constitution. Drinking water should get special protection.

Facilities providing basic services are not to be privatized. The AfD wants to secure this with a rule of constitutional rank. Municipal water supply is to receive special protection within the program "Wasserzukunft Bayern 2050" (Water Future Bavaria 2050).