Agreements, trial votes:Everything is well prepared, routine, but it will be a debacle and a political sensation. In the middle of the legislative period, the SPD and FDP fail on January 14, 1976 in the Lower Saxony state parliament when voting on a new prime minister.
Stiff faces after the vote:SPD candidate Helmut Kasimier (left) fails in the election for Prime Minister.Flashback:In 1976, a social-liberal coalition governed Lower Saxony under Prime Minister Alfred Kubel. The social democrat wants to give up his office halfway through the legislative period - for reasons of age. Helmut Kasimier is available as his successor, also SPD and previously Minister of Finance. The election of the new head of government is scheduled for January 14, a Wednesday. SPD and FDP together have only one seat more than the CDU opposition:78 to 77. Nevertheless, after two years of joint government work, there is no reasonable doubt about the stability of the coalition, which is confirmed by trial votes.
CDU nominates Ernst Albrecht
For the election of the prime minister, the CDU nominated an opposing candidate:the young Ernst Albrecht, who the party wants to develop as a top candidate for the 1978 state elections. When the result of the secret ballot is announced, there are many amazed faces - Helmut Kasimier 75 votes, Ernst Albrecht 77 votes, three ballot papers are invalid. This means that no candidate achieves the necessary absolute majority of 78 votes. The election must be repeated the next day.
Albrecht gets votes from the coalition
In 1977, Albrecht named Gorleben as the temporary location for a national nuclear waste disposal site.Behind the scenes, the SPD parliamentary group votes again for a test and stands united by their candidate Kasimier. In the secret election on January 15, however, he failed again and only got 74 votes. CDU candidate Albrecht receives one more vote:78. This means that at least one member of the governing coalition must have voted for Albrecht. Again three votes are invalid. Albrecht thus gets the absolute majority and can now present a cabinet to the state parliament within 21 days. However, he lets the deadline pass because he does not want to risk defeat in the necessary open vote on his ministers.
SPD comes up with a new candidate
A third ballot follows, scheduled for February 6th. The SPD changes its Prime Minister candidate and brings Karl Ravens to Hanover. At that time, the native of Lower Saxony was working in Bonn as Federal Minister for Urban Development in the cabinet of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt. But Ravens cannot win the vote either. He is defeated by Albrecht by 75 to 79 votes. The surprise is perfect. Despite much speculation, who voted for Albrecht from the SPD/FDP coalition remains unknown to this day.
First CDU Prime Minister in the country
Ernst Albrecht remained Prime Minister in Lower Saxony for 14 years.According to the electoral law, Ernst Albrecht no longer needs a further vote to form a state government. He is the first Prime Minister of Lower Saxony to be elected by the CDU. However, Albrecht does not have a majority in parliament. Just under a year later, in January 1977, did the FDP leave the coalition with the Social Democrats and enter into an alliance with the CDU. In the state elections of 1978, the Christian Democrats received 48.7 percent of the votes and won the absolute majority of seats. The FDP fails at the five percent hurdle. Albrecht remains prime minister and will defend his office in the next elections. It was not until May 1990 that the CDU and FDP lost the state elections to the SPD and the Greens. Gerhard Schröder replaces Albrecht after 14 years in office.
Commitment in the new federal states
After his electoral defeat, Albrecht withdrew from state politics. He is involved in economic development in the new federal states. Albrecht takes over the chairmanship of the supervisory board of the ailing ironworks in Thale (Saxony-Anhalt) and acquires the company in 1993 for the symbolic price of one euro.
Father of the country with a sense of family
Ernst Albrecht is considered a family man and made music here in 1976 with his daughter Ursula (right), among others.Although the doctor of economics began his career at the EC Commission in Brussels, he always showed close ties to the state of Lower Saxony. As the father of seven children - including the later Federal Minister Ursula von der Leyen - he was considered a politician with a sense of family. In 2010 Albrecht celebrated his 80th birthday.
On December 13, 2014, Ernst Albrecht died at the age of 84 on the family estate in Burgdorf-Beinhorn after a long period of Alzheimer's disease. At a state ceremony in the state parliament, federal and state politicians paid tribute to the deceased. State President Bernd Busemann said that as a convinced parliamentarian with the Christian and social conscience of "a liberal conservative", Albrecht shaped the country like no other during his 14-year term.
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- Part 1:The vote in the state parliament
- Part 2:From Gorleben to the casino affair:stations of the Albrecht era