Leader_of_the_opposition_(Germany)

Leader of the Opposition (Germany)

Leader of the Opposition (Germany)

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The Leader of the Opposition (German: Oppositionsführer, pronounced [ɔpoziˈt͡si̯oːnsˌfyːʁɐ] ⓘ) in Germany is the parliamentary leader of the largest political party in the Bundestag that is not in government.

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Then-Leader of the Opposition Angela Merkel with future Leader of the Opposition Guido Westerwelle at the Munich Security Conference in early 2005.

In Germany, the Leader of the Opposition is an informal title that is not even mentioned and does not have any formal functions in the by-laws of the Bundestag. However, the Leader of the Opposition is, by convention, the first person to respond to the most senior government spokesperson during a debate.[1][2] The title also exists on a state level, but only in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein is the position formally recognized as an actual office.

Only two Leaders of the Opposition went on to be directly elected Chancellor afterwards: Helmut Kohl (1976–1982) and Angela Merkel (2002–2005).

List of opposition leaders in Germany since 1949 (Federal Republic of Germany)

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References

  1. [1]
    "Oppositionsführer - Ein Titel ohne Mittel". Cicero Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  2. [2]
    "Opposition: Bedeutung und Rechte im Bundestag". FOCUS Online (in German). Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  1. [N 1]
    Frank-Walter Steinmeier donated one of his kidneys to his end-stage kidney disease-stricken wife in August 2010. From 23 August to 26 October 2010, where he recovered from the procedure, senior SPD Bundestag member Joachim Poß served as interim Bundestag leader in his absence.
  1. After the first Bundestag session following the 2021 federal election, the unofficial position of Leader of the Opposition was for the moment effectively vacant: the government-forming negotiations that eventually led to a coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP were still underway, so the Merkel IV cabinet remained in office as a caretaker government, but the AfD was no longer the strongest non-government party, as the Greens held more seats in the Bundestag. Technically, then, the role of opposition leader would have fallen to the group leadership of the Greens, but as a party that would foreseeably soon enter government, they did not appear that way, and were not perceived that way in the media. There was no opposition leader again until 8 December with the election of Olaf Scholz as chancellor, which meant that Ralf Brinkaus, as leader of the largest opposition group, fell into this role.
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