SSW on democracy and the state

The SSW wants knowledge of minority languages to count more clearly as a preferred criterion when state agencies in the Schleswig region hire staff. To that end, employees' language skills are to be recorded.

Some people speak Danish or Frisian. This should be an advantage when they apply to state offices in the north. The offices should write down who speaks which language. Then they can take it into account for new jobs.

The rule is to apply to state agencies in the Schleswig part of the state. There, command of a minority language is to be highlighted more clearly in hiring criteria as a desired qualification. The skills are to be listed in personnel files and in the state's personnel system KoPers. That way they could be considered when positions are filled.

The SSW wants to anchor the protection and promotion of minorities in the Basic Law, Germany's constitution. At the federal level, national minorities and ethnic groups are also to get a collective right to sue. The state is to implement European minority agreements in line with the minorities' demands.

The SSW wants to write minority protection into the German constitution. Minorities should also be able to go to court as a group. They would not have to be affected themselves.

The party wants to push for the constitutional change in Berlin. With a collective right of action, minorities or ethnic groups could go to court on behalf of the public to protect collective legal interests, even if their own rights have not been violated. Schleswig-Holstein is to fulfill the minorities' demands when implementing the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European language charter.

The SSW wants to strengthen the public sector in the competition for skilled workers. Civil servants should again receive a Christmas bonus or a special payment, along with more flexible working hours and a free choice of health insurance.

The state needs good people in its offices. The SSW wants to make these jobs more attractive. Civil servants should get a Christmas bonus again. Working hours should fit family life better. Civil servants should be free to choose their health insurance.

The platform sees the state's civil service competing with the private sector, the federal government and other states. Working hours should adapt more to different stages of life, and moving between career tracks should become easier. Public service should stay attractive especially for people starting their careers, and health prevention should improve. The SSW will keep pursuing its initiative, rejected by the governing coalition, for a flat-rate health allowance and free choice of health insurance. Municipalities should get more leeway in managing staff.

The SSW rejects merging Schleswig-Holstein with Hamburg or other northern German states. The state is to keep its independence and identity; in the party's view, a merged 'Nordstaat' would be remote from citizens.

Some people want to merge Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg into one state. This is called a Nordstaat. The SSW is against it. It says the state should stay independent. That keeps politics close to the people.

The party considers the possible benefits of a merger far smaller than its costs and drawbacks. It points to the state's historically grown independence. With the SSW there are to be no preparatory steps toward a merger either, while cooperation with neighboring states is explicitly wanted.

The SSW wants all state laws and regulations to be reviewed for their effects on young people. The reason given is that minors are barely represented in politics and have no direct influence.

The SSW wants a youth check. An independent office would review new laws. It would ask: What does this law mean for young people? Young people can hardly take part in decisions themselves.

The review is to be binding and carried out by a body outside parliament and government. It is to cover bills from the state parliament and state government as well as state regulations. The SSW expects this to make policy fairer for young people.

The SSW wants to create an additional work-free public holiday in Schleswig-Holstein, State Constitution Day. The program lists this in the context of civic education.

The SSW wants a new holiday in Schleswig-Holstein. It should be called State Constitution Day. People do not have to work on this day.

The new holiday is to be added to the existing ones. It is to be a day off work. The demand appears in the program under the goal of treating civic education as a task for the whole state.

The SSW wants more positions and better resources for the justice system and its full digitalization. In the party's view, judicial independence must not suffer from political interference. Restrictions on civil liberties in favor of the security authorities should be allowed only if they are strictly necessary and suitable.

The SSW wants more staff for courts and prosecutors. The justice system should work digitally. Courts should stay independent from politics. Prisons should also be modernized and get more staff.

Plans include more specialization within judicial authorities, a relaxed ban on audio and video recording in courts, and a more transparent election of federal judges. Mediation and victim-offender reconciliation should be strengthened as complements, as should the "Schleswig-Holstein model" in adult guardianship. At the federal level the state should keep pushing to reword the homicide offenses, whose language the platform says dates from the Nazi era. The judiciary should continue examining its history under the Nazis and after 1945; prisons should be renovated and better staffed.

The SSW wants to broaden democratic participation. Citizens should be able to file a constitutional complaint themselves over fundamental rights in the state constitution, and a democracy promotion law should provide lasting support for civil society organizations. The party also wants to give volunteering more recognition and to examine citizens' councils.

The SSW wants people to have more of a say. They should be able to go to the state constitutional court if their basic rights are violated. Groups that work for democracy should get lasting funding. Volunteers should get more benefits. The party wants to look into citizens' councils.

The party commits to representative democracy and wants to supplement it. Organizations that do educational work and support victims of far-right attacks should receive long-term, adequate funding. For volunteers, time off from work and tax advantages should be expanded and statewide networking made possible. Citizens' councils made up of representatively selected people could draft proposals for policymakers at state and local level.