Tarek Al-Wazir
Tarek Al-Wazir | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Deputy Minister-President of Hesse | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Volker Bouffier |
| Preceded by | Jörg-Uwe Hahn |
| Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development | |
| Assumed office 18 January 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | Volker Bouffier |
| Preceded by | Florian Rentsch |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 3, 1971 Offenbach am Main, Hesse,  West Germany |
| Nationality | German, Yemeni |
| Political party | Alliance '90/The Greens |
Tarek Mohammed Al-Wazir (Template:Lang-ar; born January 3, 1971) is a politician in the German Green Party. Since January 2014 he has been Deputy of the Hessian Minister-President Volker Bouffier and Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development. He is a member of the Landtag of Hesse and was co-chairman of the Hessian Green Party.
Early life and education
Al-Wazir was born in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, the son of an upper-class Yemeni father and a sudeten German mother. He holds dual citizenship with Yemen and Germany. His parents divorced while he was a child, and he spent several years of his youth in the Yemeni capital (Sana'a) with his father, an experience he later described as very influential in his personal development.[1]
After his Abitur in 1991, he studied political science in Frankfurt, where he earned a diplom.
Political career
Al-Wazir joined the German Green Party in 1989, and has been a member ever since. From 1992 to 1994 he was chairman of the party's youth organisation (Green Youth) in Hesse. He has been a member of the Landtag since 1995 and is co-chairman of the Hessian Green Party (with Kordula Schulz-Asche).
He was the leader of the Greens during the Hesse state election of 2008, and as such was the Green candidate for the position of minister-president of Hesse. His party gained 7.5% of the votes. In the aftermath of the election, he pushed hard for a "red-green-red" coalition consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the far-left Die Linke party. This would have succeeded if not for an internal revolt by SPD members, forcing a new election in January 2009. In the 2009 elections, he again stood as the Green candidate for minister-president. Surveys showed Al-Wazir to be Hesse's most popular politician at the time of the vote.[2] This time his party, also benefitting from popular anger at the SPD, increased its share to 13.7% of the vote, but the Greens remained out of government.
On 18 January 2014, after the 2013 state elections, Al-Wazir became Deputy of the Hessian Minister-President Volker Bouffier and Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development in a Black-Green coalition. Thus they formed only the third CDU-Green government in Germany’s 16 federal states and the first in a big and socially diverse region.[3] As one of Hesse’s representatives at the Bundesrat, Al-Wazir is a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and the Committee on Transport.
Other activities (selection)
- Helaba, Alternate Member of the Supervisory Board
- Messe Frankfurt, Member of the Supervisory Board
- Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), Chairman of the Advisory Board
- Hessischer Rundfunk, Member of the Broadcasting Council
- HA Hessen Agentur GmbH, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
- Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Posts and Railway, Member of the Advisory Board
- Frankfurt Main Finance, Member of the Presidium
- Rheingau Musik Festival, Member of the Board of Trustees[4]
- Stiftung Schloss Ettersburg, Member of the Board of Trustees
Personal life
Al-Wazir is married to a Yemeni woman, with whom he has two sons.[5]
External links
- ^ Tarek, nicht Fritz, taz vom 27. Oktober 2008
- ^ Dave Graham (February 4, 2009), "Mac" brings Scottish flavor to German politics Reuters.
- ^ Stefan Wagstyl (December 17, 2013), Germany’s CDU and Greens strike coalition pact in Hesse region Financial Times.
- ^ Board of Trustees Rheingau Musik Festival.
- ^ "Grünen-Chef Tarek Al-Wazir gilt als scharfzüngiger Redner", 12. January 2008
