Minister President of Lower Saxony the CDU nomination for President in 1979 and Chancellor in 1980, Gerhard Schröder became Chancellor of Germany in 1998, his successor Sigmar Gabriel is the current SPD chairman and Christian Wulff was elected President of Germany in 2010. Examples of Lower Saxony's influence on policy debates in federal politics include Ernst Albrecht's advocacy of financial transfers from other states and Gerhard Schröder's usage of Lower Saxony's "Bundesrat" votes in matters of fiscal and tax policy. Political Party: Minister President of Lower Saxony The Minister President of Lower Saxony (), also referred to as Premier or Prime Minister, is the head
President of Germany who can perform any of the president's duties, if the president is temporarily unable to do so and delegates these duties to them (this frequently happens during state visits), or if the Presidency falls vacant, in which case he becomes acting head of state (not "(acting) President") until a successor is elected, which has to happen within thirty days. This has happened three times: (2) In Germany, former presidents are usually referred to as "Altbundespräsidenten" (President emeritus). There are three living former German presidents: President of Germany The President of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of