Klaus Wowereit

Wowereit, Klaus

Klaus Wowereit was born on 1st October 1953. He is a German politician, member of the SPD (Social Democratic Party), and has been the Governing Mayor of Berlin since the 21st October 2001 state elections. He served as President of the Bundesrat in 2001/02. His SPD-led coalition was re-elected in the 2006 elections; after the 2011 elections the SPD's coalition partner changed from the Left to the Christian Democratic Union. He was also sometimes mentioned as a possible SPD candidate for the Chancellorship of Germany (Kanzlerkandidatur) in the next German federal election, but that never materialized.

Political Career

After three years as a civil servant in the Senate office of the Interior, Wowereit stood for election as municipal councilor in the Tempelhof district. At the age of 30, he was, therefore, the youngest councilor in the city of Berlin. After eleven years as a District Councilor he stood for the Berlin House of Deputies (Abgeordnetenhaus von Berlin), which serves as the City's Landtag in 1995. In December 1999, he was elected chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Abgeordnetenhaus.

Since June 2001 he has served as Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) of Berlin. Previously, the SPD had left the grand coalition with the CDU and initiated new elections. After this election and following long-time negotiations, Wowereit finally started a coalition with the PDS. In the elections held on 17 September 2006, Wowereit's SPD finished as the strongest party with a plurality of 30.8%. A coalition with Die Linke was continued. However the 16th Abgeordnetenhaus re-elected Wowereit as Governing Mayor on 23 November 2006, in the second ballot with only a 75:74 majority. CDU, Free Democrats and the Green Party voted against him. In the elections held on 18 September 2011, he and his party were again the strongest party.

In 2011 he published Mut zur Integration – für ein neues Miteinander ("Courage for integration - for a new together"), a book written in response to the controversial book "Germany Abolishes Itself" written by former member of the Executive Board of the Deutsche Bundesbank -Thilo Sarrazin. On 26 August 2014 he announced that he would resign his position as of 11 December 2014.

On 21 October 2003 Wowereit became one of four members representing the Land of Berlin in the supervisory board of the project to build the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport. In 2006, he was elected chairman of the board. However, on 7 January 2013, Wowereit relinquished his chairmanship after the continuing delay of the airport's opening date. The prime minister of the Land of Brandenburg, Matthias Platzeck was appointed as his successor. Wowereit survived a vote of no confidence brought against him in the Berlin House of Representatives on 12 January. When Platzeck gave up his political offices for health reasons in July 2013, Wowereit was eventually appointed chairman again, despite much criticism. Critics have accused Wowereit of being responsible for the various delays and cost overruns of the airport project. He has been accused of being blind to looming problems, and reacting angrily to unfavorable reports. Also, he is said to have filled the board with political friends rather than professionals. He announced his intention to resign at the end of 2014 due to the airport delays saying it was the "biggest failure" of his term in office, but that there were also other "several difficult times here."

External Links

http://www.bundesrat.de/SharedDocs/personen/DE/laender/be/wowereit-klaus.html

http://www.klauswowereit.de/