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Members of the plenary hall of the Saarland state parliament.
© Harald Tittel/dpa/archive image
The Saarland constitution was modernized with three changes.
There is no longer a “race” - instead there is sustainability and volunteerism.
Saarbrücken - The state parliament of Saarland has deleted the term “race” from the constitution.
With two further constitutional amendments on Wednesday, sustainability was declared a state goal and at the same time the protection of voluntary work was enshrined.
The sole governing SPD and the opposition CDU also want to insert a clause against anti-Semitism into the constitution in the near future.
“Our constitution is modern, trend-setting and understandable.
Today we are making sure that it stays that way,” said MP Kira Braun (SPD).
MP Roland Theis (CDU) spoke of an “important correction” with regard to the deletion of the word “race”.
The three-member AfD parliamentary group rejected the changes.
The term “race” was removed from the Constitution when listing possible grounds for discrimination.
In the future, Article 12 will instead state that no one may be disadvantaged or favored “due to racist attributions”.
Sustainability was declared a state goal.
In the future, it should be the state's responsibility to act according to the principle of sustainability in order to protect the interests of future generations.
A third amendment stipulates “the protection and promotion of the state” for taking on voluntary work.
Pascal Arweiler (SPD) spoke of a “good day for volunteer work”: Of the almost one million Saarland residents, around 400,000 work on a voluntary basis.
Braun and Theis emphasized that the use of the term “race” in the Constitution is incorrect because there are no races.
“It’s unscientific,” Theis said.
In addition, the term “inflammable” is because it is the basis for the idea of different values.
“There is racism, but not races,” Braun said.
Theis emphasized that the CDU “does not adopt identity politics” that sees “cultural appropriation and structural racism behind every costume from the Arabian Nights.”
Christoph Schaufert (AfD) rejected the constitutional changes as “truisms and self-evident facts”.
The ban on discrimination against people because of their “race” must be seen in a historical context.
You also have to endure words “that might make one or two woke left-wingers a little uncomfortable after their fourth glass of Chablis.”
The SPD parliamentary group leader Ulrich Commerçon announced that he wanted to insert a clause against anti-Semitism into the constitution as quickly as possible.
This is “a shared obligation for all of us”: “We have to make sure we get this done quickly.”
Braun said there was agreement among the large SPD and CDU factions to insert such a clause.
Since the terrorist attack against Hamas, the number of anti-Semitic crimes has increased by 320 percent: “A number that shows how important it is to take decisive action against this poison.” Theis described “anchoring our commitment against anti-Semitism” as a “central concern”: “This will make our state constitution better and richer.” dpa