The previous NRW transport minister is to succeed Armin Laschet as prime minister.
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf The outgoing North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Armin Laschet has arranged his successor in North Rhine-Westphalia. Transport Minister Hendrik Wüst should be the new Prime Minister in Düsseldorf, said Laschet on Tuesday after discussions with the CDU state executive and the parliamentary group. He should also be the new head of the state CDU and thus also the top candidate for the state elections in May 2022.
“I wish him the best of luck,” said Laschet. There is a large consensus for Wüst in the state party. Wüst thanked him for the trust placed in him: “The CDU in North Rhine-Westphalia remains a strong team.” Laschet is giving up his offices in North Rhine-Westphalia, as he will move to Berlin after the federal election.
The 46-year-old Wüst now has to be elected as Prime Minister by the state parliament. This is expected to happen at the end of October. The black-yellow coalition there has only one vote majority. The CDU parliamentary group was already unanimously behind Wüst. In North Rhine-Westphalia state elections are due next May.
Wüst has a mandate in the state parliament in Düsseldorf, which, according to the state constitution, has to elect the prime minister from among its members. However, neither Interior Minister Herbert Reul nor Building and Home Affairs Minister Ina Scharrenbach, who were also said to have ambitions, have a seat in the state parliament. Now Wüst has prevailed.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
As a family man and Münsterländer, Wüst is right in the middle of life, emphasized Laschet. He is a “doer”. Wüst emphasized that North Rhine-Westphalia must remain an industrial state, but also emphasized that climate protection was a key issue.
The state FDP had already made it clear that it would support a solution for Laschet’s successor. “We have a good relationship of trust with the publicly named candidates, so I am assuming a good solution,” said Vice Prime Minister Joachim Stamp. “We’re not going to play games. But of course we will vote again with the CDU on content before the election of a new Prime Minister, ”he announced.
Hendrik Wüst is to become the new Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia.
(Photo: dpa)
The Münsterländer Wüst can already look back on a long career in politics. The lawyer and passionate hunter was Secretary General of the NRW CDU from 2006 to 2010, but had to resign when it became known that the CDU had offered potential party donors one-on-one talks with one of Laschet’s predecessors, Jürgen Rüttgers. In 2017 he was appointed Minister of Transport by Laschet.
More: Laschet fights against the Machiavelli princes