Bodo Ramelow
| Bodo Ramelow | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Minister President of Thuringia | |
|
Assumed office 5 December 2014 |
|
| Deputy | Heike Taubert |
| Preceded by | Christine Lieberknecht |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 February 1956 Osterholz-Scharmbeck, West Germany |
| Political party | The Left |
| Profession | Retail Business Management Assistant |
| Religion | Protestantism |
| Website | www |
Bodo Ramelow (German pronunciation: [ˈboːdoː ˈʁaməloː]; born 16 February 1956 in Osterholz-Scharmbeck) is a German politician of the Left Party who has been Minister President of Thuringia since 2014. Previously he was chairman of his party's group in the Landtag of Thuringia.
Ramelow was born and raised in West Germany. He is a trained retail salesman and became an official in HBV, the union for trade, bank and insurance employees during the 1980s. He moved to Thuringia, in former East Germany, after the unification of Germany in 1990. There he joined the post-Communist Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). He was elected to the Landtag of Thuringia in 1999. He became deputy chairman and in 2001 chairman of the party's parliamentary group in the Landtag (state parliament).
In February 2004, Ramelow was elected top candidate of the PDS in the Thuringian state elections. In June 2004 the party gained its best result in Thuringia since German unification with 26.1% of the votes. Ramelow was re-elected as the PDS chairman in Thuringia.
Starting in June 2005, Ramelow was chief negotiator during unification talks between the PDS and WASG, a unification that resulted in the new party The Left. In September 2005 he was elected deputy chairman of The Left in the Bundestag. In the Thuringia state election in September 2009 he led The Left to become the second biggest party with 27.4% of the votes, making him a competitor for the post of minister-president.
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