Referendum in Schwerin: January date despite legal concerns!

Referendum in Schwerin: January date despite legal concerns!

The referendum in Schwerin on the Lankow district park is getting closer, despite all legal concerns and contradictions. On Monday evening, the city council rejected the mayor's objection to the set date with a majority. This means that the date for the referendum remains set at January 25, 2026, unless legal supervision intervenes again. This decision is seen as a signal of the topic's independence, while critics fear that legal requirements will be ignored.

Despite the alleged contradiction of the Ministry of the Interior, which considered the January date to be illegal because no legally sound cost coverage proposal was presented and the necessary agreement with the legal supervisory authority had not been achieved, the majority of the city council was not convinced by these arguments. Supported by a replacement proposal from the CDU parliamentary group, which also received support from parts of other parliamentary groups, the referendum should be carried out as originally planned.

Financial aspects and implementation

A supplementary SPD application to hold the referendum exclusively as a postal vote was accepted, which gives the city council additional leeway. When estimating the additional 100,000 euros for the separate implementation, reference is made to the loss of the mayor's salary in the first half of 2026. The administration continues to view the January deadline critically, but must make the appropriate preparations for the implementation of the referendum.

The referendum instrument enables citizens to have a say on issues affecting their own municipality. As Wikipedia describes, the referendum has the same status as a resolution of the elected local council and can be initiated both by council resolutions and by citizens' requests. This strengthens direct democracy and promotes public discourse in the community.

Criticism and reactions

The reactions to the agreed date are mixed. While supporters of the January date see the decision as an expression of timeliness and self-determination, critics express concerns about possible lower voter turnout that could be caused by the winter date. Representatives of the citizens' initiative, who have collected over 5,600 signatures, are dissatisfied with the decision and plan not to accept it without resistance. The city representatives of the ASK also announced that they would approach the legal supervisory authority again in order to obtain a complaint about the appointment.

It remains to be seen whether the referendum will actually take place in January as planned. The upcoming audit by the legal supervisory authority at the Ministry of the Interior could provide decisive impetus here. There is a lot at stake for the city of Schwerin, and the discussions about the Lankow district park show how important citizen participation and transparent decision-making processes are for the local community.