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 East Germany is convoked and presided over by the President of the "Volkskammer". Any citizen who has reached the age of thirty-five years might stand for election. The administrative reform of 1952 led to the dissolution of the states ("Länder") of East Germany. The "Landerkammer" thereby became meaningless; It met in 1954 for the last time and was formally abolished in 1958. As a result, the "Volkskammer" alone was responsible for the election of the President. On assuming office, the President of the Republic took the following oath before a joint session of the "Volkskammer" and the "Landerkammer": The President of the