State government of North Rhine-Westphalia
The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia consists of the prime minister and the state ministers .
The prime minister determines the guidelines of the state government's policy and is responsible for them (so-called guideline competence ). He manages the business of the state government in accordance with the rules of procedure . The Prime Minister is elected by the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament from among its members in the first ballot with an absolute majority ; a relative majority is sufficient for the next two ballots , the fourth ballot is held as a runoff . The other members of the government are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister; a member of the government is appointed by the prime minister as his deputy.
The office of Prime Minister ends with the meeting of a new state parliament. Since the office of the state ministers is linked to the end of the office of the prime minister, their offices also end at this point, also if the prime minister resigns or dies or if he is voted out by a constructive vote of no confidence .
Prime Minister as a member of the state parliament
An outstanding feature of the formation of a government in North Rhine-Westphalia is the imperative that the candidate for the office of Prime Minister must belong to the state parliament at least at the time of his election by the state parliament :
Article 52 sentence 1 of the constitution for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia : "The state parliament elects from among its members in a secret ballot without debate the prime minister with more than half the legal number of its members."
Due to this requirement, the designated successor to Wolfgang Clement , who had changed to the federal government , the SPD state chairman Harald Schartau , could not be elected Prime Minister in November 2002 ; he did not belong to the state parliament. Instead, the previous Minister of Finance Peer Steinbrück became the new Prime Minister.
State governments since 1946
Due to state elections and government reforms, the following state governments have been in office since the state of North Rhine-Westphalia was founded in 1946:
| Prime Minister | Ruling parties | from | to | cabinet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudolf Amelunxen ( independent ) 1 | Center , SPD , KPD , FDP (from September 10, 1946) | August 29, 1946 | December 5, 1946 | Cabinet Amelunxen I |
| CDU , center, SPD, KPD, FDP | December 5, 1946 | June 17, 1947 | Cabinet Amelunxen II | |
| Karl Arnold (CDU) | CDU, Center, SPD, KPD (until February 7, 1948) | June 17, 1947 | August 1, 1950 | Cabinet Arnold I |
| CDU | August 1, 1950 | September 15, 1950 | Cabinet Arnold II 2 | |
| CDU, center | September 15, 1950 | July 27, 1954 | ||
| CDU, FDP, center | July 27, 1954 | February 28, 1956 | Arnold III cabinet | |
| Fritz Steinhoff (SPD) | SPD, FDP, center | February 28, 1956 | July 24, 1958 | Steinhoff cabinet |
| Franz Meyers (CDU) | CDU | July 24, 1958 | July 26, 1962 | Meyer's I cabinet |
| CDU, FDP | July 26, 1962 | July 26, 1966 | Meyer's II cabinet | |
| CDU, FDP | July 26, 1966 | December 8, 1966 | Meyer's III cabinet | |
| Heinz Kühn (SPD) | SPD, FDP | December 8, 1966 | July 28, 1970 | Cabinet Kühn I |
| SPD, FDP | July 28, 1970 | 4th June 1975 | Cabinet Kühn II | |
| SPD, FDP | 4th June 1975 | 20th September 1978 | Cabinet Kühn III | |
| Johannes Rau (SPD) | SPD, FDP | 20th September 1978 | 4th June 1980 | Cabinet Rau I |
| SPD | 4th June 1980 | 5th June 1985 | Cabinet Rau II | |
| SPD | 5th June 1985 | June 12, 1990 | Cabinet Rau III | |
| SPD | June 12, 1990 | July 17, 1995 | Cabinet Rau IV | |
| SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens | July 17, 1995 | June 9, 1998 | Cabinet Rau V | |
| Wolfgang Clement (SPD) | SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens | June 9, 1998 | June 27, 2000 | Cabinet Clement I |
| SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens | June 27, 2000 | November 12, 2002 | Cabinet Clement II | |
| Peer Steinbrück (SPD) | SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens | November 12, 2002 | June 24, 2005 | Steinbrück Cabinet |
| Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) | CDU, FDP | June 24, 2005 | July 15, 2010 | Rüttger's cabinet |
| Hannelore Kraft (SPD) | SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens | July 15, 2010 | June 21, 2012 | Cabinet Kraft I 3 |
| SPD, Alliance 90 / The Greens | June 21, 2012 | June 30, 2017 | Cabinet Kraft II | |
| Armin Laschet (CDU) | CDU, FDP | June 30, 2017 | officiating | Laschet cabinet |
See also
Web links
- Website of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia
- Members of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia at the Federal Council
- Law on the legal relationships of the members of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia (state ministers 'law) in the version published on July 2, 1999 (GV.NRW. 1999 p. 218), last amended by the law amending the state ministers' law and other laws of July 8 2016 (GV.NRW. 2016 p. 619)
- New version of the rules of procedure of the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia (GOLR) of June 1, 2005 (MBl. NRW. 2005 p. 604)
- Announcement about changes in the business areas of the highest state authorities of July 13, 2017 (GV. NRW. 2017 p. 699)