Tarek Al-Wazir

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Tarek Al-Wazir
2019-10-10 Tarek Al-Wazir by OlafKosinsky MG 5200.jpg
Al-Wazir in 2019
Deputy Minister-President of Hesse
In office
18 January 2014 –18 January 2024
Political party The Greens (since 1989)
Children2
Relatives Abdullah al-Wazir
(great-uncle)
Alma mater Goethe University Frankfurt

Tarek Mohammed Al-Wazir (Arabic : طارق محمد الوزير; born 3 January 1971) is a German politician of Alliance '90/The Greens who served as deputy to the Hessian Minister-President, and Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development from 2014 to 2024. He is a member of the Landtag of Hesse and was co-chair of the Hessian Green Party.

Contents

Early life and education

Al-Wazir was born in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, the son of an upper-class Yemeni father and a teacher. [1] He holds dual citizenship of 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. [2]

After his Abitur in 1991, Al-Wazir studied political science in Frankfurt, where he earned a degree.

Personal life

Al-Wazir is married to a Yemeni woman, with whom he has two sons. They also split time between Germany and Yemen. [3]

Al-Wazir's surname has been an aptronym since he assumed ministerial office in 2014, as الوزير "al-wazīr" is Arabic for "the government minister." [4]

Political career

Al-Wazir joined the German Green Party in 1989, and has been a member ever since. From 1992 to 1994 he was chair of the party's youth organisation (Green Youth) in Hesse. He has been a member of the Landtag since 1995 and served as co-chair of the Hessian Green Party (with Kordula Schulz-Asche).

Al-Wazir 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 Die Linke. 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. [5] 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. [6] As one of Hesse's representatives at the Bundesrat, Al-Wazir was a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and the Committee on Transport.

Al-Wazir was a Green Party delegate to the Federal Convention for electing the president of Germany in 2017. [7]

In the negotiations to form a so-called traffic light coalition of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2021 German elections, Al-Wazir was part of his party's delegation in the working group on mobility, co-chaired by Anke Rehlinger, Anton Hofreiter and Oliver Luksic. [8]

In the 2025 German federal election, he will be the Green direct candidate in Offenbach and 4th place on the state list. [9]

Other activities (selection)

Regulatory agencies

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

References

  1. ↑ Alexander, Matthias (14 December 2013). "Schwarz-Grün in Hessen: Zwei Jungs aus dem Hüttendorf". FAZ.NET (in German). Retrieved 6 October 2023.
  2. ↑ Tarek, nicht Fritz, taz vom 27. Oktober 2008
  3. ↑ "Grünen-Chef Tarek Al-Wazir gilt als scharfzüngiger Redner", 12 January 2008
  4. ↑ Wehr, Hans (1976). Cowan, J. Milton (ed.). Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, Third Edition. Spoken Language Services. p. 1064.
  5. ↑ Dave Graham (4 February 2009), "Mac" brings Scottish flavor to German politics Reuters.
  6. ↑ Stefan Wagstyl (17 December 2013), Germany’s CDU and Greens strike coalition pact in Hesse region Financial Times .
  7. ↑ Ralf Euler (23 November 2016), 45 Hessen wählen mit Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung .
  8. ↑ Britt-Marie Lakämper (October 21, 2021), SPD, Grüne, FDP: Diese Politiker verhandeln die Ampel-Koalition Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung .
  9. ↑ "Bewerberinnen und Bewerber der Landeslisten". Wahlen in Hessen (in German). Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  10. ↑ advisory board Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA).
  11. ↑ Board of trustees Rheingau Musik Festival.
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