Thomas Oppermann | |
|---|---|
 Oppermann in 2020 | |
| Vice President of the Bundestag (on proposal of the SPD-faction) | |
| In office 24 October 2017 – 25 October 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Edelgard Bulmahn |
| Succeeded by | Dagmar Ziegler |
| Leader of theSocial Democratic Party in theBundestag | |
| In office 16 December 2013 – 27 September 2017 | |
| Chief Whip | Christine Lambrecht |
| Preceded by | Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
| Succeeded by | Andrea Nahles |
| Chief Whip of theSocial Democratic Party in theBundestag | |
| In office 21 November 2007 – 16 December 2013 | |
| Leader | Peter Struck Frank-Walter Steinmeier |
| Preceded by | Olaf Scholz |
| Succeeded by | Christine Lambrecht |
| Member of theBundestag forGöttingen | |
| In office 18 September 2005 – 25 October 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Inge Wettig-Danielmeier |
| Succeeded by | vacant[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann (1954-04-27)27 April 1954[2] Freckenhorst,West Germany |
| Died | 25 October 2020(2020-10-25) (aged 66) Göttingen, Germany |
| Political party | Social Democratic Party |
| Alma mater | University of Tübingen University of Göttingen |
Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann[3] (27 April 1954 – 25 October 2020) was a German politician and member of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD). From October 2017 until his death he served as Vice President of theBundestag. 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.
Oppermann belonged to the right wing of the SPD, known asSeeheimer Kreis.[4]
Oppermann was born inFreckenhorst on 27 April 1954.[5][6] He received hisabitur from the Goetheschule inEinbeck.[7] Afterwards, he studiedGerman studies andEnglish studies at theUniversity of Tübingen.[7] From 1976 to 1978, he worked atAction Reconciliation Service for Peace (ARSP) in theUnited States.[7] After his return to Germany, he went to law school atUniversity of Göttingen, finishing in 1986.[7]
From 1986 until 1990, Oppermann served as anadministrative court judge inHanover and later inBraunschweig.[7] During 1988 to 1989, he was seconded to serve as the chief legal affairs officer for the city ofHann. Münden.[7] Oppermann had three daughters and one son.[8]
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 theLower Saxon Landtag from 1990 to 2005.[9] He was speaker for legal affairs there from 1990 to 1998.[10]
Between1998 and2003, Oppermann served as State Minister for Science and Culture in the cabinets ofMinister-PresidentsGerhard Schröder,Gerhard Glogowski andSigmar 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]
From the2005 federal election until his death in 2020, Oppermann served as a member of theBundestag (German parliament). Within his parliamentary group, he was part of theSeeheim 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] succeedingOlaf Scholz; he was subsequently re-elected in 2011 and 2013. In this capacity, he also joined the parliament'sCouncil 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 theParliamentary Oversight Panel (PKGr), which provides parliamentary oversight of Germany's intelligence servicesBND,BfV andMAD.[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 theFederal Court of Justice (BGH), theFederal Administrative Court (BVerwG), theFederal Fiscal Court (BFH), theFederal Labour Court (BAG), and theFederal Social Court (BSG).
Ahead of the2009 elections, German foreign ministerFrank-Walter Steinmeier included Oppermann, then relatively unknown face to the German public, in hisshadow cabinet of 10 women and eight men for the Social Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbentAngela Merkel as chancellor.[16] During the campaign, Oppermann served as shadow minister for interior affairs and therefore as the counterpart of incumbentWolfgang Schäuble.[16]
In the negotiations to form a so-calledGrand Coalition following the2013 federal elections, Oppermann led the SPD delegation in the internal and legal affairs working group; his co-chair wasHans-Peter Friedrich of theCSU. WhenFrank-Walter Steinmeier resigned as Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group to serve once again as foreign minister inAngela Merkel's secondGrand 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 theFederal Constitutional Court of Germany.[18]
In late 2015, the SPD's board under the leadership ofSigmar Gabriel mandated Oppermann andManuela Schwesig with the task of drafting an electoral program for the2017 federal elections.[19] In the Social Democrats’ campaign to unseat incumbentAngela Merkel as chancellor, Oppermann focused on defence policy, thereby being a counterweight to incumbentUrsula von der Leyen.[20]
After the Social Democrats experienced their worst result in German post-war history, the new chairmanMartin Schulz nominatedAndrea 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 theFranco-German Parliamentary Assembly.[22]
In August 2020, Oppermann announced that he would not stand in the2021 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term.[23]
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In 2011, Oppermann publicly spoke out in favor of holding anational referendum over fundamental principles of theEuropean Union on the day of the2013 German federal election.[24]
In 2013, Oppermann criticized the government ofChancellorAngela Merkel as news emerged of its intentions to sell arms toSaudi 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]
When a former member of parliamentSebastian Edathy in December 2014 appeared before a Bundestag inquiry into his purchase ofchild 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.[40] 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."[41]
Oppermann collapsed while waiting for a TV appearance and was transported to a hospital inGöttingen, where he died on 25 October 2020, at the age of 66.[42][43]
| Party political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Leader of theSocial Democratic Party in theBundestag 2013–2017 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
