A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It is an alternative term for prime minister, premier, chief minister, or first minister and very similar to the title of president of the council of ministers.
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👉 Minister-president in the context of President of Germany
The President of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland), is the head of state of Germany. The current officeholder is Frank-Walter Steinmeier who was elected on 12 February 2017 and re-elected on 13 February 2022. He is currently serving his second five-year-term, which began on 19 March 2022.
Under the 1949 constitution (Basic Law) Germany has a parliamentary system of government in which the chancellor (similar to a prime minister or minister-president in other parliamentary democracies) is the head of government. The president has a ceremonial role as figurehead, but also has the right and duty to act politically. They can give direction to general political and societal debates and have some important "reserve powers" in case of political instability (such as those provided for by Article 81 of the Basic Law). The president also holds the prerogative to grant pardons on behalf of the federation. The German presidents, who can be elected to two consecutive five-year terms, have wide discretion about how they exercise their official duties.
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Minister-president in the context of Bundesrat (German Empire)
The Bundesrat (German for 'Federal Council') was the highest legislative body in the German Empire (1871–1918). Its members were appointed by the governments of Germany's constituent states to represent their interests in the German parliament. The popularly elected Reichstag was the lower house. The Constitution of the German Empire required that both the Bundesrat and the Reichstag approve laws before they came into force. The Bundesrat was responsible for the enactment of the laws, administrative regulations and the judicial resolution of disputes between constituent states. Its approval was required for declarations of war and, with certain limitations, the conclusion of state treaties.
The chairman of the Bundesrat was the chancellor, who was appointed by the emperor. Constitutionally, his only functions were to chair the Bundesrat's meetings and implement its resolutions. He had neither a seat nor a vote in the chamber and could not propose legislation. In practice, however, the chancellor was almost always the minister president of Prussia as well. As Prussian minister president, the chancellor could act as a member of the Bundesrat and introduce legislation.
Minister-president in the context of Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (German: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈkoːl] ; 3 April 1930 – 16 June 2017) was a German politician who served as chancellor of Germany and governed the Federal Republic from 1982 to 1998. He was leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998 and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU). Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest in German post-war history, and is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany.
Born in Ludwigshafen to a Catholic family, Kohl joined the CDU in 1946 at the age of 16. He earned a PhD in history at Heidelberg University in 1958 and worked as a business executive before becoming a full-time politician. He was elected as the youngest member of the Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1959 and from 1969 to 1976 was minister president of the Rhineland-Palatinate state. Viewed during the 1960s and the early 1970s as a progressive within the CDU, he was elected national chairman of the party in 1973. After he had become party leader, Kohl was increasingly seen as a more conservative figure. In the 1976 and 1980 federal elections his party performed well, but the social-liberal government of social democrat Helmut Schmidt was able to remain in power. After Schmidt had lost the support of the liberal FDP in 1982, Kohl was elected Chancellor through a constructive vote of no confidence, forming a coalition government with the FDP. Kohl chaired the G7 in 1985 and 1992.