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AfD calls for more citizen question hours – local council votes!
On July 9, 2025, the AfD called for more frequent citizens' question times in the Haßloch local council to improve political participation.
AfD calls for more citizen question hours – local council votes!
The discussion about citizen participation is taking on interesting aspects in Haßloch. The Rhine Palatinate reports on a current proposal from the AfD parliamentary group in the local council, which calls for an expansion of the residents' question time. The aim of this initiative is to involve citizens more closely in political processes and to improve communication between citizens and local politics. The Bundestag member Thomas Stephan emphasized the need to clarify acute concerns promptly. The proposal calls for residents' question time to be held at every local council meeting in the future, instead of just quarterly.
But the proposal met with resistance: it failed in the vote with a result of 7 votes in favour, 9 abstentions and 14 rejections. This means that the required two-thirds majority to change the rules of procedure was not achieved. This dynamic raises questions: What is the status of citizen participation today? And how can citizens actually be actively involved in political decision-making processes?
Citizen participation in transition
Experts such as Brigitte Geißel and Haas also comment on the role of citizen participation in a wide-ranging discourse. Loud Bosch Foundation The aim is to strengthen the institutionalization of citizen participation. The two discuss the need to intensively discuss political issues within a group before making decisions. Geißel dreams of a future in which direct and deliberative processes are closely linked to representative institutions.
The increasing number of initiatives in which citizens can actively work on politics shows that there is interest in political participation. An example of this is the first citizens' assembly in Germany, in which randomly drawn participants developed recommendations for political decisions, accompanied by scientific expertise. Such formats could also be heard more widely in Haßloch and strengthen citizens' trust in political institutions.
The longing for participation
A look at the current situation shows that many citizens long to take part in decision-making processes. Sustainable political participation could also counteract dissatisfaction with traditional institutions. Loud political education Only around 2% of young people are involved in traditional political committees. There is therefore plenty of room for new approaches and innovative forms of citizen participation.
Overall, it is clear that politicians are required to find new ways so that citizens can act not only as listeners, but also as active participants. The stagnating voter turnout and the increasing crisis of trust in the representative democratic system require fresh ideas. In Haßloch, this could be the first step towards establishing a new dynamic in citizen participation.