Word: bundestag
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...controversy comes at an awkward time, with Germany under increasing pressure to contribute more troops to the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Despite doubts over the German mission in Afghanistan, on Dec. 3, the Bundestag voted to extend the mandate by another year, until 2010. There are now about 4,300 German soldiers in Afghanistan - most are based in the north of the country - and Germany is the third biggest troop contributor after the U.S. and Britain. But the U.S. is looking for a bigger commitment. "More German troops would be very welcome," Richard Holbrooke, President Obama's special envoy...
...Reflecting the mood, zu Guttenberg urged parliament to start "thinking the Afghanistan mission from its end," making the case for better-defined goals and an exit strategy. "There is a need for more clarity on how, and under which circumstances, the mission can end," he told the Bundestag...
...Germans." If she meant this as a warning that she intends to resist her new partner's tax-cutting agenda, Westerwelle won't be happy. The final shape of the new government won't emerge until after a period of horse-trading and a vote in the Bundestag, probably in a week or two, to confirm Merkel as Chancellor. Westerwelle, despite his focus on economics, is expected to become Foreign Minister, the traditional role for the leader of the junior coalition party. The biggest foreign policy issue confronting the incoming government is Afghanistan. Germans are increasingly unhappy with their troops...
...just that opinion polls show the CDU and FDP tantalizingly close to attaining just under half the votes they'd need to form a government. A few percentage points could change the picture entirely. But Germans don't even know how many politicians will get elected, since the Bundestag is one of the few parliaments in the world where the number of seats can shift with each election. (Read "Germany's Election: Divided They Stand...
...Germany's electoral system is a combination of proportional representation and simple plurality voting. This means that half the Bundestag members are elected through direct voting in 299 districts and half are awarded seats according to their party's share of the overall vote. Oftentimes, one party wins more seats in the direct vote than it earns from its share of the overall vote; when that happens, the party is allowed to keep its extra seats, which are called überhangmandate, or overhanging mandates, and the number of seats in parliament changes...