Michael Kretschmer

Michael Kretschmer
MdL MdBR
Kretschmer in 2022
Deputy Leader of the
Christian Democratic Union
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 January 2022
LeaderFriedrich Merz
Preceded byVolker Bouffier
Minister-President of Saxony
Incumbent
Assumed office
13 December 2017
DeputyMartin Dulig
Wolfram Günther
Preceded byStanislaw Tillich
Leader of the
Christian Democratic Union of Saxony
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 December 2017
General SecretaryAlexander Dierks
DeputyBarbara Klepsch
Christian Hartmann
Thomas Schmidt
Preceded byStanislaw Tillich
General Secretary of the
Christian Democratic Union of Saxony
In office
1 December 2004 – 9 December 2017
LeaderGeorg Milbradt
Stanislaw Tillich
Preceded byHermann Winkler
Succeeded byAlexander Dierks
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the
Landtag of Saxony
for Görlitz 2
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 October 2019
Preceded byOctavian Ursu
Member of the Bundestag
for Görlitz
(Löbau-Zittau – Görlitz – Niesky; 2002–2005)
In office
17 October 2002 – 24 October 2017
Preceded byGeorg Janovsky
Succeeded byTino Chrupalla
Personal details
Born
Michael Kretschmer

(1975-05-07) 7 May 1975 (age 49)
Görlitz, Bezirk Dresden, East Germany (now Germany)
Political partyChristian Democratic Union (since 1989)
Spouse
Annett Hoffmann
​
(m. 2020)​
Children2
Residence(s)Dresden-Klotzsche
Waltersdorf
Alma mater
Websitemichaelkretschmer.de

Michael Kretschmer (born 7 May 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as Minister President of Saxony since December 2017.[1] Since 2022, he has been one of four deputy chairs of the CDU, under the leadership of chairman Friedrich Merz.[2]

Political career

Member of Parliament, 2002–2017

From 2002 to 2017 Kretschmer was a member of the Bundestag as directly elected representative for Görlitz. He first served on the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment. In the negotiations to form a coalition government under Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2009 federal elections, he was a member of the working group on economic affairs and energy, led by Annette Schavan and Andreas Pinkwart.[3]

From 2009 to 2017 Kretschmer was one of the vice chairs of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, under the leadership of chairman Volker Kauder.[4] During his time in parliament, he was also of the German-Russian Parliamentary Friendship Group and the German-Polish Parliamentary Friendship Group.

In the negotiations to form a Grand Coalition of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the SPD following the 2013 federal elections, Kretschmer led the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on cultural and media affairs; his counterpart of the SPD was Klaus Wowereit. Over the following years, he co-chaired the CDU's national conventions in Karlsruhe (2015),[5] Essen (2016)[6] and Berlin (2018).[7]

Kretschmer lost reelection in 2017 to Tino Chrupalla of the AfD.[8][9]

Minister-President of Saxony, 2017–present

See also: Second Kretschmer cabinet

On 18 October 2017, Stanislaw Tillich announced his resignation as Minister President of Saxony and suggested that Kretschmer should replace him.[10] He is only the fourth and also the youngest person to hold that office.[8]

As one of Saxony's representatives at the Bundesrat, Kretschmer has been serving as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs since 2017. In addition, he is a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with Russia's Federation Council.

In the negotiations to form a fourth cabinet under Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Kretschmer co-chaired the working group on transport and infrastructure, alongside Alexander Dobrindt and Sören Bartol.

In December 2021, ZDF journalists discovered a plot by anti-vaccine and anti-lockdown extremists to assassinate Kretschmer, which led to an investigation by Saxon police and searchings for weapons through several houses in Dresden.[11][12]

Since 2022, Kretschmer, alongside Karl-Josef Laumann, has been chairing a working group in charge of drafting policies on social security for the CDU's new party platform.[13]

Other activities

Political positions

In June 2017, Kretschmer voted against Germany's introduction of same-sex marriage.[21]

While visiting the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in 2019, Kretschmer met with President Vladimir Putin and later called for the lifting of EU economic sanctions against Russia.[22] This was immediately rejected by CDU chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.[23]

He was opposed to restrictions during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and even attended an anti-lockdown demonstration, but changed his mind and apologised in December 2020. In November 2021 he disagreed with Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn on ending the nationwide state of emergency.[12]

Controversy

During his tenure as secretary general of the CDU in Saxony, Kretschmer faced criticism after reports surfaced in 2010 that personal meetings with party chairman and Minister-President Stanislaw Tillich were offered to potential corporate sponsors in exchange for donations.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Michael Kretschmer ist neuer Ministerpräsident von Sachsen". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
  2. ^ Lorenz Hemicker (2 January 2022), Unmut gegenüber Frauen Union? Widmann-Mauz scheitert bei CDU-Präsidiumswahl Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
  3. ^ "Koalitionsverhandlungen: Wen Union und FDP zum Feilschen schicken". Der Spiegel (in German). Spiegel Online. 6 October 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  4. ^ "Deutscher Bundestag – Kretschmer, Michael". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  5. ^ Protokoll: 28. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 14. – 15. Dezember 2015, Karlsruhe Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU).
  6. ^ Protokoll: 29. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 6. – 7. Dezember 2016, Essen Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
  7. ^ Protokoll: 30. Parteitag der CDU Deutschlands, 26. Februar 2018, Berlin Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
  8. ^ a b Schurig, Jörg; Fischer, Martin (10 December 2017). "Michael Kretschmer – vom Wahlverlierer zum Parteikapitän". Leipziger Volkszeitung (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  9. ^ Lang, Anna-Sophia (9 December 2017). ""Auch ein Besenstiel wäre gewählt worden"". Spiegel Online (in German). Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Merkel Ally Resigns as Saxony's Leader After Losses to AfD". Bloomberg.com. 18 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Mordkomplott mot tysk politiker efter vaccinutspel". DN.SE (in Swedish). 15 December 2021. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
  12. ^ a b Schumacher, Elizabeth (8 December 2021). "German police investigating anti-vax assassination plot against Saxony leader Michael Kretschmer". Deutsche Welle. Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  13. ^ Robert Roßmann (22 April 2023), "Aus Gründen der Generationengerechtigkeit": Unionspolitiker wollen Rente an Lebenserwartung koppeln Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  14. ^ Board of Trustees Development and Peace Foundation (SEF).
  15. ^ Board of TrusteesDeutsches Museum.
  16. ^ Board of Trustees Dresden Frauenkirche.
  17. ^ as of July 1, 2020 Max Planck Society.
  18. ^ Board of Trustees Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids.
  19. ^ Board of Trustees Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems.
  20. ^ Board of Trustees Senckenberg Nature Research Society.
  21. ^ Diese Unionsabgeordneten stimmten für die Ehe für alle Die Welt, 30 June 2017.
  22. ^ Christiane Hoffmann, Timo Lehmann, Veit Medick and Ralf Neukirch (29 July 2019), Relations with Moscow Emerge as German Election Issue Der Spiegel.
  23. ^ Merkel party leader rejects call to end Russia sanctions Associated Press, 8 June 2019.
  24. ^ Andreas Illmer (27 February 2010), Donation scandal surrounding German conservatives widens Deutsche Welle.
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