Parliamentary Groups and Smaller Parliamentary Groups

In view of the diversity of the political tasks to be performed in parliament, MPs usually join together to form parliamentary groups (in German Fraktionen = parts of a whole). Parliamentary groups are alliances, usually of at least five members of the Landtag who belong to the same party, political union or joint list of proposed candidates or have been nominated by them. As independent and autonomous entities, they participate in the work of the Landtag with their own rights and duties and support the development of informed parliamentary opinion. The members of a parliamentary group select experts from their own ranks on individual political topics and subsequently form a shared opinion on factual and personnel decisions. This contributes to structured and efficient parliamentary work. The parliamentary groups have a special status. They have more parliamentary rights than individual MPs; in order to fulfil their tasks, they are entitled to financial support from the Land budget.

Each parliamentary group adopts its own rules of procedure, which have to provide for the parliamentary group meeting and a parliamentary group executive or a parliamentary group chairperson as necessary organs of the parliamentary group.

The chairperson of the parliamentary group represents the positions of the parliamentary group in the Plenum and before the media, organises the work of the parliamentary group in a leading function, prepares meetings and also ensures – in many discussions and by negotiating compromises – the solidarity of the parliamentary group in the run up to votes and decisions, also on controversial issues. Meanwhile, the secretary of the parliamentary group manages the administration of the parliamentary group. This includes organisational, personnel and financial matters. As a rule, the secretaries of the parliamentary groups are not MPs, but salaried members of the parliamentary group.

In contrast, the parliamentary secretary of a parliamentary group is always also a member of parliament. The parliamentary secretaries coordinate the parliamentary work of the parliamentary group and influence the procedures in the Plenum and in the committees. For example, they ensure that speakers are appointed to speak in the debates on behalf of the parliamentary group and, if necessary, make agreements between the parliamentary groups that are useful for the work of the Landtag.

Since 1 April 2015, it has been possible in the Landtag Brandenburg for at least three members of the Landtag who do not belong to a parliamentary group to join together for collaborative work and form a smaller parliamentary group with basic financial and material resources and its own legal nature. The group can appoint a spokesperson.