At the “Künzeller meeting” of the Hesse CDU, the Prime Minister made his office available.
(Photo: dpa)
Fulda The Hessian Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) will resign from office at the end of May. The 70-year-old announced this on Friday in Fulda. The decision to do so was made in July 2021, he said.
His successor is to be Boris Rhein, who has been President of the Hessian State Parliament. Rhein is currently the Hessian state parliament president and is to become the new prime minister and head of the state of Hesse’s CDU
Bouffier is currently the longest-serving prime minister in Germany. For almost twelve years he has led the state government in Hesse as head of government. The 50-year-old Rhein was Minister for Science and Art between 2014 and 2019, before that he was Interior Minister for four years. The Hessian state parliament is expected to be re-elected in autumn 2023. The CDU currently governs together with the Greens.
“Of course, this is not an easy decision for me either,” said Bouffier about his withdrawal, which is planned for the state parliament session on May 31. However, after such a long term in office, it is necessary to create clarity “for oneself and also for the public”. “I think the time is right,” he said. The CDU and the Greens formed a stable coalition. He is convinced that this will continue successfully without him, said Bouffier.
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The CDU Hessen and the CDU parliamentary group met in the east Hessian city for their annual retreat. Another press conference after the deliberations has been announced for 2 p.m. Minister of Education Alexander Lorz had also declared his interest in running to succeed Bouffier should he resign prematurely.
At the beginning of July, the board of the Hessian CDU is to be re-elected at a state party conference. So far, it has been considered agreed that the offices of party leader and prime minister or CDU top candidate for a state election are in one hand.
intermediaries and listeners
Bouffier moved into the Hessian State Chancellery after Prime Minister Roland Koch (CDU) retired from politics in 2010. In the same year he became CDU state leader and federal vice of his party. Bouffier had previously been Hessian interior minister and was long considered a hardliner.
In the meantime, however, his role as the father of the country has changed to that of mediator and listener. The black-green coalition in Hesse, the first cooperation between the CDU and the Greens in a German state, is considered to be his invention. Most recently, he had no longer run as a federal vice for the CDU.
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