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 re-elected in 1953 and in 1957. Shortly after the death of Pieck on 7 September 1960, the Constitution was amended. The "Law concerning the formation of the State Council" of 12 September 1960 introduced a collective head of state instead of the presidency, the State Council of East Germany. In the last, democratic phase of East Germany in 1989/90, the State Council was abolished; President of the People's Chamber Sabine Bergmann-Pohl acted as head of state. The President of the Republic was elected for a term of four years by the "Volkskammer" and the "Landerkammer", meeting in joint session, which