Thomas Oppermann

Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann[3] (27 April 1954 – 25 October 2020) was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of the Bundestag. In his earlier career, he served as First Secretary (2007–2013) and later as chairman (2013–2017) of the SPD Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.

For the German legal scholar, see Thomas Oppermann (academic).

Thomas Oppermann
Oppermann in 2020
Vice President of the Bundestag
(on proposal of the SPD-group)
In office
24 October 2017 – 25 October 2020
Preceded byEdelgard Bulmahn
Succeeded byDagmar Ziegler
Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office
16 December 2013 – 27 September 2017
Chief WhipChristine Lambrecht
Preceded byFrank-Walter Steinmeier
Succeeded byAndrea Nahles
Chief Whip of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
In office
21 November 2007 – 16 December 2013
LeaderPeter Struck
Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Preceded byOlaf Scholz
Succeeded byChristine Lambrecht
Member of the Bundestag
for Göttingen
In office
18 September 2005 – 25 October 2020
Preceded byInge Wettig-Danielmeier
Succeeded byvacant [1]
Personal details
Born
Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann

(1954-04-27)27 April 1954[2]
Freckenhorst, West Germany
Died25 October 2020(2020-10-25) (aged 66)
Göttingen. Lower Saxony, Germany
Political partySocial Democratic Party
Alma materUniversity of Tübingen
University of Göttingen

Oppermann belonged to the right wing of the SPD, known as Seeheimer Kreis.[4]

Life and career

Oppermann was born in Freckenhorst on 27 April 1954.[5][6] Oppermann received his abitur from the Goetheschule in Einbeck.[7] Afterwards, he studied German studies and English studies at University of Tübingen.[7] From 1976 to 1978, he worked at Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) in the United States.[7] After his return to Germany, he went to law school at University of Göttingen, finishing in 1986.[7]

From then until 1990, Oppermann was an administrative court judge in Hanover and later in Braunschweig.[7] From 1988 to 1989, he was seconded to serve as chief legal affairs officer for the city of Hann. Münden.[7] Oppermann had three daughters and one son.[8]

Political career

Role in regional politics

Oppermann has been a member of the (SPD) since 1980 and president of the regional SPD in Göttingen since 1989.[8] He was a member of the Lower Saxon Landtag from 1990 to 2005.[9] He was speaker for legal affairs there from 1990 to 1998.[10]

Between 1998 and 2003, Oppermann served as State Minister for Science and Culture in the cabinets of Minister-Presidents Gerhard Schröder, Gerhard Glogowski and Sigmar Gabriel.[11] In 1999, after Glogowski's resignation, Oppermann lost an internal party vote against Gabriel on becoming the next Minister-President.[12]

From 2003 to 2005, Oppermann was the economic speaker of the state SPD parliamentary group.[13]

National politics

From the 2005 federal election until his death in 2020, Oppermann served as a member of the Bundestag (German parliament). Within his parliamentary group, he was part of the Seeheim Circle.[14] From March 2006 to November 2007, he was speaker of the working group and leader of the SPD delegation on the committee to investigate the secret services (Geheimdienst-Untersuchungsausschuss).[14]

Oppermann was elected as the First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group in November 2007,[10] succeeding Olaf Scholz; he was subsequently re-elected in 2011 and 2013. In this capacity, he also joined the parliament's Council of Elders, which – among other duties – determines daily legislative agenda items and assigning committee chairpersons based on party representation. He also became a member of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel (PKGr), which provides parliamentary oversight of Germany's intelligence services BND, BfV and MAD.[10]

Between 2006 and 2013, Oppermann was the Deputy Chairman of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group.[15] From 2009, he served on the parliamentary body in charge of appointing judges to the Highest Courts of Justice, namely the Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG), the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH), the Federal Labour Court (BAG), and the Federal Social Court (BSG).

Ahead of the 2009 elections, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier included Oppermann, then relatively unknown face to the German public, in his shadow cabinet of 10 women and eight men for the Social Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbent Angela Merkel as chancellor.[16] During the campaign, Oppermann served as shadow minister for interior affairs and therefore as counterpart of incumbent Wolfgang Schäuble.[16]

Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group, 2013–2017

In the negotiations to form a so-called Grand Coalition following the 2013 federal elections, Oppermann led the SPD delegation in the internal and legal affairs working group; his co-chair was Hans-Peter Friedrich of the CSU. When Frank-Walter Steinmeier resigned as Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group to serve once again as foreign minister in Angela Merkel's second Grand Coalition, Oppermann was elected as his successor on 16 December 2013.[17]

Oppermann also served on the Committee on the Election of Judges (Wahlausschuss), which is in charge of appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.[18]

In late 2015, the SPD's board under the leadership of Sigmar Gabriel mandated Oppermann and Manuela Schwesig with the task of drafting an electoral program for the 2017 federal elections.[19] In the Social Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbent Angela Merkel as chancellor, Oppermann focused on defence policy, thereby being a counterweight to incumbent Ursula von der Leyen.[20]

Vice-President of the German Bundestag, 2017–2020
Oppermann as Vice-President of the German parliament in 2019

After the Social Democrats experienced their worst result in German post-war history, the new chairman Martin Schulz nominated Andrea Nahles to replace Oppermann as leader of the party's group in the German Parliament.[21] He also served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs. From 2019, he was a member of the German delegation to the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.[22]

In August 2020, Oppermann announced that he would not stand in the 2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[23]

Political positions
Thomas Oppermann alongside Angela Merkel and Volker Kauder at the Bundestag, 2014

In 2011, Oppermann publicly spoke out in favor of holding a national referendum over fundamental principles of the European Union on the day of the 2013 parliamentary election.[24]

In 2013, Oppermann criticized the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel as news emerged of its intentions to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, saying that the conservatives wanted to "totally upgrade" the country's military capabilities.[25]

Faced with 800,000 migrants arriving in Germany in 2015, Oppermann said his party would never accept a "CSU proposal to create 'transit zones' near the border, where asylum seekers with no chance of staying could be quickly sent back home".[26]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profits

Controversy

When former member of parliament Sebastian Edathy in December 2014 appeared before a Bundestag inquiry into his purchase of child pornography, he was asked about whether a tip-off from party colleagues gave him time to destroy evidence ahead of a police raid on his home and office. Edathy said senior SPD members, particularly Oppermann, breached legal privilege by discussing the case with colleagues and staff.[41] During a closed-door hearing of the Committee on Internal Affairs earlier that year, Oppermann had denied that he or any of his fellow high-ranking SPD officials "indirectly or directly informed or even warned Sebastian Edathy of the investigation or our knowledge of it."[42]

Death

Oppermann collapsed while waiting for a TV appearance and was transported to a hospital in Göttingen, where he died on 25 October 2020, at the age of 66.[43][44]

References
  1. Oppermanns seat was a overhang seat, meaning it will not be filled.
  2. "Deutscher Bundestag – Oppermann, Thomas". 22 September 2013.
  3. FOCUS Online (18 January 2014). "Politik: Dieser Junge wollte Minister werden ..." FOCUS Online.
  4. Daniel Friedrich Sturm (20 July 2012), Der heimliche General der Sozialdemokratie Die Welt.
  5. Fried, Nico (26 October 2020). "Der Pragmatiker". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Munich. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  6. "Thomas Oppermann". SPD-Bundestagsfraktion (in German). 28 September 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  7. "Thomas Oppermann". Alumni Göttingen (in German). 14 December 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  8. Oppermann biography Official website of the German Bundestag. Retrieved 12 March 2010 (in German)
  9. Thomas Oppermann listing Watch group website. Retrieved 12 March 2010 (in German)
  10. "Experienced parliamentarian from Göttingen: Thomas Oppermann". German Bundestag. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  11. "Thomas Oppermann". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  12. Sigmar Gabriel soll neuer Ministerpräsident werden Spiegel Online, 27 November 1999.
  13. "Thomas Oppermann". European Leadership Network. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  14. "Der SPD-Politiker Thomas Oppermann ist tot". BR24 (in German). 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  15. "Celebrating 50 Years of German-Israeli Relations, a senior delegation of the SPD Parliamentary Group visited Israel". FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFTUNG. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  16. Veit Medick (31 July 2009), SPD Presents Shadow Cabinet: No Stars for 'Team Steinmeier' Spiegel Online.
  17. Krauß, Bärbel (16 December 2013). "Das Gespann der Konkurrenten". Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). Stuttgart. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  18. "Wahlausschuss". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  19. Oppermann und Schwesig sollen SPD-Wahlprogramm entwerfen Der Spiegel, 6 November 2015.
  20. Daniel Friedrich Sturm (5 July 2017), Die SPD-Allzweckwaffe fordert von der Leyen heraus Die Welt.
  21. Emma Anderson (25 September 2017), Schulz picks Nahles to lead SPD in German parliament Politico Europe.
  22. Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly Deutscher Bundestag.
  23. Bundestagswahl 2021: Thomas Oppermann (SPD) tritt nicht wieder an Göttinger Tageblatt, 28 August 2020.
  24. Christoph Hickmann, Peter Müller, René Pfister and Christoph Schwennicke (14 November 2011), A German Referendum on Europe? Merkel Eyes Constitution Revamp to Boost EU Powers Der Spiegel.
  25. Arms Exports: Berlin Backs Large Defense Deal with Saudi Arabia Spiegel Online, 3 February 2014.
  26. "Merkel faces domestic revolt over refugee welcome". Yahoo News. 15 October 2015.
  27. 2005 Annual Report EnBW.
  28. 2006 Annual Report EnBW.
  29. SPD-Politiker Oppermann neuer Chef der DFB-Ethikkommission Deutschlandfunk, 27 September 2019.
  30. Members Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES).
  31. "Thomas Oppermann - Nebentätigkeiten". abgeordnetenwatch.de (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  32. "Oppermann, Thomas". Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  33. "Aufsichtsrat der Internationale Händel Festspiele Göttingen GmbH". ratsinfo.goettingen.de (in German). Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  34. "Board of Trustees". Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry. 30 September 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  35. "Board of Trustees". Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  36. "Board of Trustees". Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. 19 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  37. "Kuratorium". VolkswagenStiftung (in German). 10 February 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  38. "ZDF-Fernsehrat – Lobbypedia". Das kritische Lobbyismus-Lexikon (in German). 25 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  39. Circle of Friends Das Progressive Zentrum.
  40. "Oppermann in Senat der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft gewählt › SPD-Landesgruppen Niedersachsen/Bremen". SPD-Landesgruppen Niedersachsen/Bremen (in German). 6 November 2006. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  41. Derek Scally (18 December 2014), Ex-SDP politician testifies on his use of child pornography The Irish Times.
  42. Oppermann defends actions in Bundestag hearing over Edathy affair Deutsche Welle, 19 February 2014.
  43. "Thomas Oppermann: Leading German politician dies at 66". DW. 26 October 2020.
  44. "SPD-Politiker Thomas Oppermann stirbt mit 66 Jahren". Startseite - ZDFmediathek (in German). 26 October 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Frank-Walter Steinmeier		 Leader of the Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag
2013–2017		 Succeeded by
Andrea Nahles
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