What do the parties in Saarland say on democracy and the state?

The AfD wants to make direct democracy in Saarland much easier: fewer signatures, longer deadlines and no approval quorum for referendums. Popular initiatives should also be allowed on financial matters. The party sees this as a corrective to what it regards as rule by parties.

The AfD wants citizens to vote on laws themselves more often. Fewer signatures should be needed for this. Citizens should get more time to collect them. They should also be allowed to vote on money matters.

The AfD wants to abolish the 30 percent approval quorum for local referendums. Limits on topics should largely be dropped, and land-use planning should also be open to a local vote.

The AfD wants to make votes in towns and cities easier. Today a large share of all eligible voters must say yes. This hurdle should go. Citizens should also be able to vote on building plans.

The AfD wants to replace the fixed party lists in state elections with lists on which voters can influence the order of candidates. This is meant to give citizens more say in relation to the parties.

In state elections, parties set the order of their candidates. The AfD wants to change that. Voters should be able to give votes to single candidates on the list. That way they help decide who enters parliament.

The AfD wants the federal and state governments to fund municipalities well and to strictly observe the Konnexitätsprinzip. Under that principle, the level of government that assigns a task must also pay for it. Access to social assistance is also to become simpler and less bureaucratic.

The AfD wants more money for cities and towns. The federal and state governments should pay when they give towns new tasks. This rule is called the Konnexitätsprinzip. People in need should get help more easily. Offices should ask for less paperwork.

The CDU wants to set up a separate ministry for building, infrastructure, and housing that brings together all responsibilities in this field. LEG Kommunal, a company that supports municipalities with construction projects, is to get more money and staff.

The CDU wants a new ministry for building and housing. Everything about building should be in one place there. A company helps towns with building projects. It should get more money and more staff.

The CDU wants to reduce the renovation backlog in public buildings. The state is to own fewer buildings and put the freed-up money into the remaining ones; municipalities are to get a special program for daycare centers, schools and sports facilities.

Many public buildings are in poor shape. The state should give up buildings it does not need. The CDU wants to use that money to modernize the other buildings. Towns and cities should get a special program. With it they can repair or newly build daycare centers, schools and sports halls.

The CDU wants to modernize Saarland's public service and envisions a separate digital ministry. Government and administration are to become simpler, more agile, more digital and more crisis-proof, which the party says the COVID-19 pandemic showed to be necessary.

The CDU wants to make public administration in Saarland more modern. Offices should work in a simpler and faster way. There should be a separate ministry for digital matters. Every ministry should know about digital topics. The administration should be bolder with new things.

The CDU wants state employees to share in general public-sector pay growth and to bring civil service pay gradually up to the level of other German states. A campaign is meant to make the state a more attractive employer.

The CDU wants to pay state employees better. Step by step, pay should match other German states. The state should become a popular employer.

The CDU wants to bundle the management of state-owned buildings and land in a new "Gesellschaft für Landesimmobilien" (state real estate company). Central space management is meant to save costs.

The state owns many buildings. The CDU wants to set up a new company for them. It should manage all the buildings. This should save money.

The CDU wants to continue the Pakt für den Rechtsstaat (Pact for the Rule of Law) permanently so that the justice system has enough staff at all career levels. Digitalizing the justice system is meant to make prosecution more effective and contact with citizens easier.

Courts and prosecutors need enough staff. The CDU wants to secure money and jobs for this for the long term. The justice system should also become more digital. That should make contact easier for citizens.

The CDU wants a fundamental review of how municipal tasks are organized and funded, and wants to standardize and digitize administrative processes. Municipalities that cooperate or merge voluntarily are to receive money and organizational help.

The CDU wants to reorganize the work of towns. Processes in town halls should become simpler and digital. Towns should work together more. They can also merge if they want to. The state gives money for this.

The CDU wants to advance new forms of participation such as representative citizens' assemblies in Saarland. Citizens are to take part in forming opinions on state policy questions without changing the core of representative democracy.

The CDU wants citizens' assemblies in Saarland. Selected citizens talk about important state questions there. They give advice to politicians. Parliament still makes the decisions.

The CDU wants to set up a state youth parliament for Saarland that involves young people in questions of child and youth policy. In municipalities, various participation formats for young people are to be possible.

Young people should have a say in politics. The CDU wants a youth parliament for all of Saarland. Student representatives from all regions will sit there. Young people should also have a say in their towns.

The CDU wants to appoint an independent, full-time protection commissioner at the state parliament. The office is to cover child protection as well as the protection of victims, patients and witnesses. In addition, a standing parliamentary committee is to serve as a commission for children and youth.

Victims of violence should have one contact person. The CDU wants to create an independent office at the state parliament. This person looks after children, victims, patients and witnesses. The parliament should also get a permanent committee for children and youth.

The SPD wants a functional reform under which municipalities divide tasks among themselves and specialize. This is meant to cut costs, avoid duplicate structures and make administration more capable.

The SPD wants to reorganize local government offices. Not every town should do everything itself. Towns should share tasks and focus on certain areas. This should save money and improve the work.

The SPD wants to make government decisions easier to follow by creating a lobby register and a transparency register. Citizens are to be more involved, including through a citizens' assembly on climate.

The SPD wants to govern more openly. A lobby register should show who has a say on laws. Lobbyists speak for the interests of companies or associations. Public data should be free. Citizens should discuss climate in an assembly.

The SPD wants young people aged 16 and over to be able to vote in state and local elections. In local elections, they should also be able to run for office from that age.

The SPD wants to lower the voting age. Young people should be allowed to vote at 16. This should apply to state and local elections. In local elections they should also be able to run.

The SPD wants to keep adding staff to the justice system so cases move faster, and to bring starting pay in line with other states. Access to the courts is to become easier through broader legal advice aid and online services. In the prison system, the platform focuses on rehabilitation and wants better support for crime victims.

The SPD wants more staff for the courts. Cases should then move faster. People with little money should also be able to go to court. Many things should be possible online. Offenders should learn to live without crime. Victims should get more help.