- Kurt Beck
Infobox Politician
name = Kurt Beck
width = 140px
height = 140px
caption =
small_
office = Chairman of theSocial Democratic Party of Germany
term_start =April 10 ,2006
term_end =September 7 2008
predecessor =Matthias Platzeck
successor =Frank-Walter Steinmeier ("Acting")
office2 =Minister President ofRhineland-Palatinate
term_start2 = 1994
term_end2 =
predecessor2 =Rudolf Scharping
successor2 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1949|2|5|mf=y
birth_place =Bad Bergzabern , Germany flagicon|Germany
nationality = German flagicon|Germany
death_date =
death_place =
party = SPD
relations =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
religion =Catholic
website =
footnotes =Kurt Beck (born
February 5 ,1949 ) is a Germanpolitician (SPD ), serving as theMinister President of the German federal state ofRhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) since 1994 and as President of the Bundesrat in 2000/01. OnMay 14 ,2006 , he succeededMatthias Platzeck as Chairman of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD). He resigned from that post onSeptember 7 2008 .Biography
Beck was born in
Bad Bergzabern , Palatinate, to the bricklayer Oskar Beck and his wife Johanna. Both his parents had their roots in the town Kapsweyer in southernRhenish Palatinate . He grew up in Steinfeld.From 1963 to 1968, he became an electrician. After passing his military duty in 1968 and 1969, he graduated from an evening school in 1972. Since then, he went on as an employee representative on
works councils .Beck is Catholic. He lives with his wife, Roswitha, whom he married in 1968, in
Steinfeld, Rhineland-Palatinate . They have one son.Political career
After joining the SPD in 1972, mainly because of the Party's programme as well as the personality of
Willy Brandt , Beck became chairman of the SPD of Rhineland Palatinate in 1993 and deputy chairman of the federal party in 2003. He served in this function up toMay 14 ,2006 , whenMatthias Platzeck had to resign for medical reasons and Beck was officially elected as chairman of the SPD with the approval of 95 % of the delegates [ [http://www.bt.dk/nyheder/artikel:aid=440828/ Kurt Beck valgt til formand for tyske socialdemokrater ] ] .In local affairs, Beck is active since 1974, when he was first elected a member of theKreistag . From 1989 to 1994, he was mayor of his hometown Steinfeld. Since 1979, he is a directly-elected member of theLandtag ofRhineland-Palatinate . In it, he served as the speaker for social affairs of theParliamentary group of the SPD from 1982 to 1985 and as a member of the governing body of the group from 1985 to 1993, when he was elected chairman.On
October 26 ,1994 , Kurt Beck was electedMinister President ofRhineland-Palatinate , succeedingRudolf Scharping . He was re-elected three times, in 1996, 2001 and 2006. As prime minister he is known for his centrist approach, which is also apparent from the choice of his coalition partner (the liberal FDP instead of the left-wing Green Party, with which the SPD has recently allied itself). In this point, he follows the policy of Scharping. In March 2006, Beck's SPD gained an absolute majority in the state elections; Beck offered to continue the coalition but since the FDP declined, the SPD formed a government without a partner. AfterEdmund Stoiber resigned in 2007, Beck is the senior Minister President in Germany.In 2000 and 2001, Beck was President of the Bundesrat, one of his duties as Minister President.
According to public opinion polls, Beck's possibilities of becoming
Bundeskanzler , should he run for this office, are very limited. According toSüddeutsche Zeitung [ [http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/141/123964/ SPD-Chef Beck im Tief Viele SPD-Wähler bevorzugen Merkel - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de ] ] , only 16% of the Germans would elect him in the hypothetical case of a direct voting againstAngela Merkel .On
September 7 2008 , Beck resigned as Chairman at a party meeting inWerder and Steinmeier was chosen as the SPD candidate for Chancellor in the 2009 election, whileFranz Müntefering was expected to replace Beck as Chairman. [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-09/08/content_9840654.htm "German SPD party reshuffles leadership, with eye on election"] , Xinhua, September 7, 2008.] Beck said that he was a victim of intrigue inside the SPD. [ [http://www.spd.de/menu/1756309/ demission declaration of Kurt Beck (in German)] ]Controversies
Henrico Frank
In the end of 2006, Beck recommended to Henrico Frank, an unemployed construction worker from
Wiesbaden , to wash himself and shave, so he could get a job. [ [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2273762,00.html Why Germany Needs Fewer Economists, More Stylists | NEWS | Deutsche Welle | 15.12.2006 ] ] Following a media controversy about Beck's behaviour, Frank declined all jobs offered to him by the state chamber. Later, he was hired as apunk rock expert foriMusic TV . [ [http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/0,1518,460494,00.html Arbeitsloser Beck-Kritiker: Henrico Frank hat einen Job - Wirtschaft - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten ] ]Afghanistan
In April 2007, Beck proposed a peace conference in
Afghanistan with the inclusion of "ModerateTaliban " [ [http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,475828,00.html Taliban-Äußerungen: Afghanistans Außenminister hält Beck Ahnungslosigkeit vor - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten ] ] . The Foreign Minister of Afghanistan,Rangin Dadfar Spanta , thus accused him of being naive. He compared the idea of "Moderate Taliban" to distinguishing between Moderate and Radical Right-wing extremists inRhineland-Palatinate . [ [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2433734,00.html Afghan Top Diplomat Rejects German Call for Talks With Taliban | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 05.04.2007 ] ] The German public mostly ignored the affair.Web
* [http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/news/2007/08/14/beck-kurt-interview-NEU-/schiessbefehl-linkspartei,geo=2313932.html Interview with the BILD, Part One, German]
* [http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/news/2007/08/15/beck-kurt-interview/2.teil-rente,geo=2319884.html Interview with the BILD, Part Two, German]References
Notes
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
