For voters, the work is done after the general election.
This is just getting started for the new government - this is what the timetable will look like after the election.
Berlin - The general election on September 26th will decide who will succeed Angela Merkel in the Chancellery and rule Germany for the next four years. The work is then done for voters: then all that remains is to hope that the parties' election promises will be implemented. But for the new government things only really get going after the election: Before they can deal with content-related issues such as climate change and the corona pandemic, there are some organizational dates and deadlines.
(Election data, live ticker, background coverage - all information about the federal election 2021 can be found in our politics newsletter.)
The day after the federal election, on September 27th, the official election results will be announced.
The district electoral committee determines the final result of the first votes, the state election committee determines the second vote result in the respective federal state.
The Federal Returning Officer then communicates the official result with the distribution of seats between the parties by federal state and direct candidate.
Deadlines after the Federal Parliament election 2021: This applies to the Bundestag
The MPs cannot take much time with their move: no later than October 26th - exactly thirty days after the federal election - the elected must meet for a first constituent session in parliament in accordance with Article 39 of the Basic Law.
In this session they acquire membership in the Bundestag and elect the President of the Bundestag.
Before the constituent meeting, the parliamentary groups elect their chairman.
At the latest two months after the federal election - on November 26th - the possibility of appealing against the validity of the election ends.
According to the Federal Returning Officer, this objection can be raised by the Land Returning Officer, the Federal Returning Officer or the President of the Bundestag.
Eligible voters also have the opportunity to object to the election result.
Party congresses, exploratory talks and the like: That’s about the new government after the election
In contrast, when forming a government, the MPs can take more time: The Basic Law does not set a deadline for this.
However, Article 69 of the Basic Law stipulates that the incumbent government, at the request of the Federal President, is obliged to govern until a new head of government has been appointed.
This rule serves to ensure that the state remains able to react.
Before a new government can be sworn in, there are still some dates for the parties.
In order to negotiate a possible coalition agreement, representatives of the parties meet for exploratory talks. The parties often vote internally at party congresses whether a coalition is approved. In 2017, for example, the Greens and the SPD decided to let their party members vote on the result. After the parties have drawn up a coalition agreement and appointed their ministers, the members of parliament can elect the chancellor on the proposal of the Federal President. After the election of the chancellor, the elected person proposes their ministers, who in turn are sworn in by the Federal President.
In the last election year of 2017, this government-forming process took longer than ever before: the MPs were only able to elect Chancellor Angela Merkel 171 days after the general election.
The reason for this was failed exploratory talks between the Union, FDP and the Greens.
When the new government will be able to deal with content-related issues again remains a question of the parties' willingness to compromise: the fastest government formation took place in 1983 after just 24 days.
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