BSW on democracy and the state

The BSW wants to expand participatory budgets, through which residents have a direct say in municipal spending. In the party's view, this strengthens local democracy because people respect outcomes more when they helped decide them.

In some towns, residents can help decide how part of the money is spent. This is called a participatory budget. The BSW wants this in more towns. The party says people respect a result more when they helped decide it.

The platform points out that many municipalities already use such tools. Strengthening participatory budgets and direct citizen influence on local politics is among the stated goals for strong municipalities. The party wants to broaden democratic participation overall in this way.

The BSW wants to secure access to justice for people with little money. Advice centers are to be supported and expanded, and legal aid for advice and court costs is to be better funded. Knowledge of one's rights should be taught in school.

The BSW wants everyone to get help with legal questions. That includes people with little money. There should be more advice centers, especially in rural areas. The state should give more money to help with court costs. Students should learn about their rights in school.

The program sees the justice system as a basic public service that must stay accessible to people on low incomes. Existing lawyer-run advice centers, which offer first expert help without high legal fees, are to be supported and expanded. In addition, publicly funded advice centers are to be created, mainly in rural areas. Aid for legal advice and court costs is to be expanded and adequately funded. Legal knowledge is to become a larger part of general education and be taught in school.

The BSW considers the number of rules too high and sees them as a burden on citizens and businesses. Saxony's Normenkontrollrat (regulatory review council) should therefore get more powers. It should also be examined whether the number of laws can be reduced.

The BSW thinks there are too many rules. This is a burden for people and companies. The regulatory review council checks the costs of new laws. It should get more powers. Government forms should be easier to understand.

In the program's view, laws are too extensive and hard for laypeople to understand, and bureaucratic requirements weigh on Saxony's economy. The Saxon regulatory review council, which assesses the costs and effects of new laws and makes recommendations, is to get clearly broader powers. The state should examine whether fewer laws and rules are possible with the same legal certainty. The program says the key is checking that existing rules are followed. Applications and forms used by the state administration are to be made easier to understand.

With many retirements ahead, the BSW wants to attract more young professionals to courts, prosecutors' offices, prisons, law firms and notary offices. University and training places in law are to be expanded. The party supports digitizing the justice system as long as staff and technology are in place.

Many judges, prosecutors and lawyers will retire soon. So the BSW wants to win more young people for these jobs. There should be more places to study law. The justice system should become more digital. That needs enough staff and technology.

According to the program, 850 judges and prosecutors and more than 1,300 lawyers will retire within ten years. The BSW wants to recruit in schools and universities, present the state as a modern employer and offer alternatives to the concentration on Leipzig. For digitization it calls for staff training and hiring IT specialists. Video hearings should only take place with adequate equipment and must not lead to rural courts closing. Together with the other states, uniform IT standards and a federal-state justice portal are to be created. The legal profession is to be strengthened so that lawyers remain available in rural areas.

The BSW wants a full review of COVID policy and a committee of inquiry in Saxony's state parliament for that purpose. In the program's view, many measures had no scientific basis and did more harm than good. Official records are to be published and data on vaccine side effects analyzed.

The BSW wants to look closely at the COVID period. The state parliament should set up a committee of inquiry. That is a group of lawmakers that examines what happened. Agencies should publish their records. Data on vaccine side effects should be checked.

The party envisions the committee as a model for a review at the federal level as well. Data on vaccine side effects, for example from health insurers, are to be analyzed without bias and vaccinated people compared with unvaccinated people; a possible link to the drop in births from 2022 is also to be examined. Records and documents from agencies and expert panels are to be made public with as few redactions as possible. Coverage by public broadcasters is to be checked for objectivity and distance from the government. The Bundestag and Bundesrat should only be allowed to approve a WHO pandemic treaty after the WHO's role has been reviewed.

The BSW calls for an amnesty and rehabilitation law for people convicted because they helped others avoid the vaccine mandate. Fines for breaking COVID rules are to be refunded. Health care workers who suffered disadvantages because of the vaccine mandate are to be rehired or compensated.

Some people were punished during the COVID period. The BSW wants a law that cancels certain punishments. People who paid fines should get their money back. Some health care workers lost their jobs because of the vaccine mandate. They should get their jobs back or receive money.

The amnesty is meant to cover people who, as the program describes it, acted on conscience in helping others avoid the vaccine mandate and the unequal treatment of unvaccinated people. Fines for ignoring measures the party considers unsuitable and excessive are to be reimbursed. Employees and freelancers in the health sector who paid fines or lost jobs and contracts because of the vaccine mandate are to be re-employed or compensated if they wish. Those whose reputation, health or finances were harmed are said to be entitled to rehabilitation, an apology and possibly redress.

The BSW wants a state law requiring that at least half of newly filled public-sector positions go to East German applicants when qualifications are equal. The platform argues that East Germans are underrepresented in leadership roles in Saxony.

The BSW wants a quota for East Germans. A quota is a fixed minimum share. At least half of new government jobs should go to East Germans. This applies only when applicants are equally qualified. The BSW says East Germans rarely hold top jobs.

The 50 percent minimum would apply to new hires in municipal and state administration, in ministries, and to job postings in academia and culture. Equal qualification is a condition. The rule is meant to be temporary and, if possible, coordinated with the other eastern German states. The platform cites wages that are 21 percent lower in the east and lower chances for young East Germans to pursue academic careers.

The BSW wants to make citizens' initiatives and referendums easier in Saxony. In the platform's view, these tools are used too little even though they could counter disillusionment with politics.

The BSW wants to make public votes easier. In such votes, citizens decide an issue themselves. Today the hurdles are high. The BSW wants to lower them.

The platform notes that direct democracy was first practiced in Saxony in 1989/90. It says the instruments provided in the constitution are not used enough today. More public votes are meant to give citizens a say in important decisions again.