Lessons from Germany on devolved governance

Recently, with other Kenyan leaders, we visited Germany to study parliamentarism and decentralisation. Today I will share some of the lessons learnt.

Germany bore the brunt of the Second World War and was defeated by the Allied Forces. Fortunately the victors aided its reconstruction. However, after 1945, Germany was divided into West and East Germany.

Representatives of the existing West Germany states (referred to as Landers) drafted a constitutional proposal, which was adopted and ratified as the country’s Basic Law or Constitution on May 1949. Thus modern Germany was born.

The Federal Republic initially consisted of 11 states. Mathias Bischoff et al state that: “Federalism in Germany is more than just a system of federal states; it represents the country’s decentral (sic), cultural and economic structure, deeply rooted in tradition. Over and above their political function, the states are also a reflection of pronounced regional identities.”

After the collapse of communism and the reunification of both West and East, five states joined the Federal Republic, bringing the number to 16 with a current population of about 83 million. Germany’s robust federalism was not imposed by the Allies.

In Kenya, however, the quasi-federal system of the 1963 Constitution was rapidly dismantled in favour of a centralised state. It was not until 2010 when devolution was restored. The system is still young.

At the federal level, Germany’s top executive consists of a Federal President elected by members of the Bundestag (federal parliament) and an equal number elected by parliamentary assemblies of the Lander on the basis of proportional representation. The Federal President must have no affiliation to a political party.

The Federal President represents the Federation in international law, concludes treaties with foreign states on behalf of the federation, accredits and receives envoys. Subject to legislation, the Federal President appoints and dismisses federal judges, federal civil servants and commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the Armed Forces. He/she exercises power to pardon offenders.

Although the office that exercises the greatest political power is the Federal Chancellor, protocol-wise the Federal President is Germany’s most senior representative. He/she can veto legislation when deemed unconstitutional and through speeches guides the country and guarantees protection of national interest.

The Federal Chancellor who is the head of the Federal government is elected by members of the Bundestag (equivalent to our National Assembly) through a simple majority and appointed by the Federal President.

The Chancellor proposes federal ministers who again are appointed by the Federal President. In the event of a coalition government, the ministers are sourced from coalition partners. The Federal Chancellor appoints a federal minister as deputy Chancellor.

Article 65 of the Constitution gives the Federal Chancellor the power to determine and be responsible for the general guidance of policy. However, each minister conducts departmental affairs independently while observing collective responsibility. Notably therefore, federal executive power is shared among the Federal President, Federal Chancellor and Federal ministers.

Since 1949, 24 coalition governments have ruled Germany. It is virtually impossible for any one party to garner a majority of seats in the Bundestag to form government on its own. After elections, coalition building is usually protracted.

In the 2017 German elections, seven parties including independents formed an assembly of 709 members. The current coalition consists of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, the Christian Social Union and their coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party.

Coalition building in Germany is not primarily about sharing ministerial positions. It entails negotiations on the programmatic mix of the collaborating parties’ joint work with each party ceding tenets of its philosophy, ideology and electoral manifesto to accommodate coalition building.

Upon agreeing on a proposed coalition agreement, parties proceed to seek the approval of their respective membership through a vote. If the members decline, there is no coalition government.

Currently, the Bundestag also consists of the extreme , Alternative for Germany, the Free Democratic Party, the Left Party and the Alliance 90/Greens.

Political parties are a pivotal institution for the country’s democracy. To become a parliamentary member, a party must garner 5 per cent of the national vote. To facilitate their work, the State funds political parties. The parties must be based on defined political opinion and programmes and have offices at federal, state and municipal levels and of course members.

Each voter for the Bundestag elections has two votes. One direct mandate for each of the 299 constituencies and another vote for the party of his/her choice. Each contesting party provides a party list of candidates in priority order. After elections, a party will get another set of deputies (MP equivalent) on the basis of the percentage of votes it gets. In the Kenyan context both Jubilee and ODM would have shared majority party list votes.

In Germany, the proportional representation takes precedence over the direct constituency vote. Instead of the 598 number of Bundestag members, the current parliament consists of an extra 111 deputies. These compensate for the difference between the directly elected members and the deputies who could have been elected if the election was solely through proportional representation.

Germany’s second house is the Bundesrat, which consists of 69 representative of the 16 state governments in accordance with their population. The state governments are represented by their Minister President (Governor equivalent) and some designated state ministers. Unlike in the Bundestag, these are non-elected representatives who champion the interest of the states.

Both the Bundesrat and Bundestag make laws. Clearly Germany’s federalism is unique. Its equivalent in Kenya would be for the Senate to be composed of the governor and several of his/her executive committee members. As Kenya reviews its constitution, important lessons can be learned from Germany’s federalism.

The writer is the Governor of Makueni   County