Minister President of Lower Saxony

The Minister President of Lower Saxony[2] (German: Ministerpräsident des Landes Niedersachsen), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head of government of the German state of Lower Saxony. The position was created in 1946, when the states of Brunswick, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe and the State of Hanover were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony. The current Minister President is Stephan Weil, heading a coalition government between the Social Democrats and the CDU. Weil succeeded David McAllister following the 2013 state election.

Minister President of Lower Saxony
Ministerpräsident des Landes Niedersachsen
Coat of arms of Lower Saxony
Incumbent
Stephan Weil
since 19 February 2013
ResidenceHanover
AppointerLandtag of Lower Saxony
Term lengthPending resignation or the election of a successor
Inaugural holderHinrich Wilhelm Kopf
Formation1 November 1946
Salaryregulated by legislation (€13521, as of 2011)[1]
Websitewww.state-chancellery.niedersachsen.de

The office of the Minister President is known as the State Chancellery (German: Staatskanzlei), and is located in the capital of Hanover, along with the rest of the cabinet departments.

The state of Lower Saxony sees itself in the tradition notably of the Kingdom of Hanover, having adopted many of its symbols. For the predecessor office in the Kingdom of Hanover, see Privy Council of Hanover. The head of the Privy Council held the title Minister President.

Title

The German title Ministerpräsident may be translated literally as Minister-President, although the state government sometimes uses the title Prime Minister in English.[2][3] Further, some third parties refer to the position in this fashion.[4][5][6]

An alternate English translation is Premier, the title given to heads of state governments in other federal systems such as Australia, Canada and South Africa.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

Origin of the Office

After the Second World War, the states of Brunswick, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe and the State of Hanover were administered as part of the zone allocated to the British military administration. With the passage of time, the British government began to back the advocates of a merger of the states. Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, who went on to become Lower Saxony's first Minister President, was a fervent advocate of the merger towards the British military authorities. On 23 October 1946, the British administration announced that they would support a merger of the states, as proposed by Kopf.[24]

Consequently, the four states were merged to form the state of Lower Saxony via Ordinance No. 55 of 1 November 1946. Article 3 of the Ordinance created the position of Minister President:

"Subject to the provisions of any legislation which may be enacted pursuant to this Ordinance, the executive authority of Lower Saxony shall be exercised by a Cabinet, the Head of which shall be known as 'Ministerpräsident'"

Article 4 of Ordinance No. 55 stipulated the appointment of the Minister President by the military government, until the holding of free Legislative Assembly elections in 1947. The British military administration then appointed Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf, the erstwhile Minister President of the former State of Hanover, to serve as the first Minister President of Lower Saxony.

Constitutional Practice

Election and Removal
Gerhard Schröder (here with US President George W. Bush) was Minister President of Lower Saxony (1990-1998) before becoming Chancellor

The Minister President is elected by the Legislative Assembly, by a majority of its members in a secret ballot.[25] However, he does not have to be a Member of the Legislative Assembly.[26] The only restriction is that the Minister President may not be a Member of the Bundestag. Before assuming his duties, the Minister President-elect takes the following oath before the Members of the Legislative Assembly:

"I swear that I will devote my strength to the people and the state, preserve and defend the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany and the constitution of Lower Saxony as well as the laws, perform my duties conscientiously and exercise justice towards all people." (The oath may be taken with or without the affirmation "So help me God")

Upon election, the Minister President then appoints his Cabinet which requires subsequent confirmation by the Legislative Assembly.[27] In practical terms, the confirmation of the cabinet is an essential requirement for the Minister President to govern, as until then the cabinet departments would be run by the (possibly defeated) predecessors.[28] The Minister President can be removed by the Legislative Assembly, through a constructive vote of no confidence – namely the election of a successor.[29] To this day, no vote of no-confidence has succeeded in the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly, with the last attempt being made in November 1988.[30]

The State Chancellery in Hanover is the official residence of the Minister President of Lower Saxony

Powers and Status

According to the Lower Saxony Constitution, the Minister President is the effective leader of the State Government, being responsible for the determination and formulation of policy guidelines.[31] In this context, he chairs the cabinet meetings and may cast a tie-breaking vote in case of a stalemate between the ministers. Additionally, the Minister President also represents the State of Lower Saxony externally and exercises the right of clemency in individual criminal cases.[32] In titular terms, the Minister President is also regarded as head of the state of Lower Saxony, thereby taking precedence over officials like the Speaker of the Lower Saxony Legislative Assembly.[33]

The Minister President, like the other members of the State Government, is not a civil servant—his salary is regulated by law. Like his ministers, the Minister President is subject to the Lower Saxony Ministers Act, which regulates matters of salary, confidentiality and ethics.[34] Furthermore, the Minister President signs treaties made by the State of Lower Saxony and has to be consulted by other cabinet members prior to the start of any negotiations.[35] The Minister President is also authorized to appoint one of his cabinet members as his deputy in case of absence or illness. The only currently known instance of a Deputy Minister President taking over the duties of Minister President was in July 2010, when Jörg Bode (FDP) served as Acting Minister President in the interval between Christian Wulff's election as President of Germany and David McAllister's confirmation as Minister President on 1 July 2010.[36] Meetings of the Cabinet traditionally take place in the guesthouse of the Lower Saxony Government, located close to the Hanover Zoological Gardens.[37]

Ernst Albrecht, (second from left) seen here during a 1978 visit by King Hussein of Jordan to the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg, was Lower Saxony's sixth Minister President.

The Role of the State Chancellery

The Minister President of Lower Saxony, like his fellow Minister President in their respective states, has the staff of the State Chancellery at his disposal. The State Chancellery assists the Minister President in the preparation of draft legislation, the management of day-to-day government business and the coordination of media policy for the entire state.[38] Additionally, it is responsible for relations to the other states in Germany and the European Union.

The State Chancellery, by convention, is headed by a state secretary appointed by the Minister President. The current incumbent is Jörg Mielke. Under the McAllister administration, the State Chancellery was divided into four overall departments (Department 1: Policy Guidelines, Department 2: Legal/Administration/Media, Department 3: Europe/International Cooperation, Department 4: Lower Saxony Representation to the Federal Government). While each of these departments is headed by a separate section head, the Press and Information Office is under the direct purview of the Minister President.[39]

Christian Wulff was Minister President of Lower Saxony (2003-2010) before being elected President of Germany

Role in German Politics

As the leader of one of Germany's territorially largest and most populous states, the Minister President of Lower Saxony has traditionally been a major player in federal politics: The state's first Minister President, Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf often used the Bundesrat as a forum to oppose the policies of the Adenauer government. Alfred Kubel, one of Kopf's successors, played a major role in negotiating a compromise between all German states on the creation of a national fiscal transfer mechanism (Länderfinanzausgleich). Minister President Ernst Albrecht, contrary to prevailing majority opinion in his own party, advocated and voted for the ratification of the treaties around which Willy Brandt's Ostpolitik was centred.[40]

Ernst Albrecht was a candidate for the CDU nomination for President in 1979 and Chancellor in 1980, Gerhard Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, his successor Sigmar Gabriel served as the Vice-Chancellor of Germany between 2013 and 2018 and Christian Wulff was elected President of Germany in 2010. Examples of Lower Saxony's influence on policy debates in federal politics include Ernst Albrecht's advocacy of financial transfers from other states and Gerhard Schröder's usage of Lower Saxony's Bundesrat votes in matters of fiscal and tax policy.[41]

List of Minister President of Lower Saxony

Political Party:   SPD   DP   CDU

Portrait Name
(Born–Died)		 Term of Office Political Party
Took Office Left Office Days
Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf
(1st term)
(1893–1961)		 9 December 1946 26 May 1955 3090 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Heinrich Hellwege
(1908–1991)		 26 May 1955 12 May 1959 1447 German Party
Hinrich Wilhelm Kopf
(2nd term)
(1893–1961)		 12 May 1959 21 December 1961 954 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Georg Diederichs
(1900–1983)		 29 December 1961 8 July 1970 3113 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Alfred Kubel
(1909–1999)		 8 July 1970 6 February 1976 2039 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Ernst Albrecht
(1930–2014)		 6 February 1976 21 June 1990 5249 Christian Democratic Union
Gerhard Schröder
(born 1944)		 21 June 1990 28 October 1998 3051 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Gerhard Glogowski
(born 1943)		 28 October 1998 15 October 1999 352 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Sigmar Gabriel
(born 1959)		 15 October 1999 4 March 2003 1236 Social Democratic Party of Germany
Christian Wulff
(born 1959)		 4 March 2003 30 June 2010 2675 Christian Democratic Union
David McAllister
(born 1971)		 1 July 2010 19 February 2013 964 Christian Democratic Union
Stephan Weil
(born 1958)		 19 February 2013 Incumbent 2737 Social Democratic Party of Germany
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References
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