President_by_right_of_age_of_the_Bundestag

President by right of age of the Bundestag

President by right of age of the Bundestag

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The President by right of age (Alterspräsident) is the longest-serving member of the German Bundestag (until 2017 the oldest by age).

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Role

The role of the President by right of age is defined in the standing rules of the Bundestag: Currently (since 2017), the position is held by the longest-serving member of parliament, with discontinuous terms of office being added together. If two members of parliament have been in office for the same length of time, age is decisive. Before a change to the standing rules in 2017, the position was held by the oldest member. He or she shall preside over the Bundestag during the opening session of each legislative term until the President of the Bundestag has been elected; for this purpose, he is authorized to appoint temporary secretaries, who remain in office until the election of regular secretaries in a later session.[1] Apart from the opening session, he or she shall also preside over the Bundestag at any given time, if both the President and all Vice Presidents are incapable of attending.[2] However, the latter case has never occurred, as of 2024.

It is common practice for the President by right of age to give the first speech of the new legislative period, in which he outlines what he considers to be important tasks for Parliament in the coming years.

There have been cases in which the longest-serving or oldest MP has declined to hold the position: Konrad Adenauer, for example, who was the oldest member of the Bundestag for many years, set the precedent of a sitting chancellor renouncing the dignity. In this case, according to standing rules, he is replaced by the MP who has served the second longest time (previously: the next oldest).

List of Presidents by right of age of the Bundestag

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Trivia

To date, 17 different people have held the status of oldest or (since 2017) longest-serving member of the Bundestag. Of these, ten have actually presided over the Bundestag in their capacity as President by right of age during an opening session, while seven have never had the opportunity to do so. Five times, another Member of Parliament presided over the Bundestag in an opening session as a substitute for the oldest/longest-serving member; in each case, this was the second oldest or second longest-serving member at the time.

Only one person presided over three opening sessions of the Bundestag:

Four members managed to preside over two opening sessions:

Nine members presided once over an opening session:

Only one person has held both the positions of president of the Bundestag and president by right of age at the same time:

References

  1. [1]
    Standing rules (Geschäftsordnung) of the German Bundestag, § 1 (2–3).
  2. [2]
    Standing rules (Geschäftsordnung) of the German Bundestag, § 8 (2). This regulation serves to ensure that the Bundestag can meet under all circumstances and that the question of the chairmanship is always resolved.
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