Short summary:
- Democracy (read: parliament) is being threathened by lobbygroups, for example in the case of nuclear power and the crisis.
- However, now we see a people's uprising against this. In Stuttgart there is a multi-billion project to build a subterranean station, the people organise massprotests against this.
- So, we need referendums, to strengthen (not replace) our (parliamentary) democracy.
[...]
Gysi isn't known to think outside the box... He's a rightwing careerist. That said, I don't disagree with referendums in principle, but it should be positioned against the existing farce of a democracy, not supporting it.