Peer Steinbrück (born 10 January 1947) is a German
social democratic politician and his party's designated candidate
for the post of Chancellor in the 2013 general elections. From 2005 to
2009 he served as
German Federal Minister of Finance in the cabinet of
Angela Merkel. He was nominated by his party as opposition candidate
for
Bundeskanzler in the
2013 elections on 28 September 2012.[1]
Early
political career
Steinbrück was born in
Hamburg
on 10 January 1947. His mother Ilse was Danish. After having been
trained as an
officer of the
reserve of the
Bundeswehr, Steinbrück studied
economics in
Kiel. He
graduated in 1974.
After graduation Steinbrück worked for several German ministries and,
from 1978 to 1981, in the office of
German Chancellor
Helmut Schmidt. In the 1980s, Steinbrück was Chief of Staff to the
Minister President of
North Rhine-Westphalia,
Johannes Rau.
In 1993, he became Minister of Economy and Infrastructure in the
State of
Schleswig-Holstein. He then returned to North Rhine-Westphalia,
where he became Minister of Economy and Infrastructure in 1998 and
Finance Minister in 2000.
From 2002 to 2005 Peer Steinbrück served as
Minister President (Ministerpräsident or governor) of
North Rhine-Westphalia.[2]
He headed a coalition government between the SPD and the
Green Party.
In the
state election on 22 May 2005, Steinbrück's SPD lost to the
Christian democratic (CDU) opposition. This loss also had
consequences for federal politics: then German Chancellor
Gerhard Schröder, who already was enfeebled by weak opinion polls
and criticism within his own party, announced to call for an early
federal election for the
Bundestag. This ultimately resulted in the
2005 federal election.
Finance Minister
After the 2005 Bundestag election, SPD and CDU formed a
grand coalition under the leadership of new Chancellor
Angela Merkel (CDU). Peer Steinbrück became finance minister of
Germany. Since 2005, he also has been deputy chairman of the
SPD. He is generally considered a member of the more conservative
wing of the party.
In December 2008, Steinbrück controversially attacked the British
Keynesian approach to economic policy in an interview with
Newsweek.[3]
He raised scepticism about the effectiveness of large fiscal stimulus
packages and criticised the resulting increase in public debt.
Steinbrück was also a sharp critic of the
Swiss banking secrecy, which in 2009 caused some tensions between
Germany and Switzerland.[4]
In a 2010 interview on German television, it appeared that the former
minister, who had adopted a very critical stance of the
shadow banking system, attributed characteristics of the private
equity industry to hedge funds.[5]
Peer Steinbrück is a Member of Parliament (Bundestag)
since 2009. He has been a prominent speaker for the SPD, especially on
economic matters.
Candidate for Federal Chancellor
On 9 December 2012 an extraordinary National Assembly of the SPD
elected Steinbrück, with 93.45% of the votes, as candidate for Federal
Chancellor, to run in the 2013 federal elections against Angela Merkel.
Clown gaffe
On 26 February 2013 Steinbrück said he was "appalled that two clowns
have won" Italy's February 24-25 election. The vote was actually
inconclusive with no party garnering a majority in parliament, although
Grillo's anti-establishment party surged dramatically. In reaction,
Italian President
Giorgio Napolitano cancelled a dinner with Steinbrück, which was
German opposition's chancellor candidate in Berlin.[6]
President Napolitano, an 87-year-old former communist with no natural
affinity for Berlusconi or Grillo, made clear that as head of state he
would brook no insults to national pride. Mr. Steinbrück was largely
seen to confirm the German obsession for repeatedly comparing his
country to Italy, a notion that has rendered German politics "pathetic"
in the eyes of the Italian electorate, with one voter commenting: "Is it
not funny how they continuously look to Italy, in order to judge and
compare themselves, as if in some kind of desperate act of self
reaffirmation. Strange, coming from a country which has seen it's own
poverty levels rise dramatically, and seriously risks seeing another
clown take over their own country. Let's just hope the next one doesn't
have a funny little black moustache under his nose."
References
External links