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Armin Laschet (CDU), Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, goes to the Landtag President's office to resign from his post as Prime Minister
Photo: Marius Becker / dpa
Armin Laschet (CDU) has been Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia since 2017.
Now he is moving to Berlin: Because he was elected to the Bundestag via the state list in September 2021, he resigned from his post as Prime Minister on Monday morning, as announced.
State Parliament President André Kuper presented Laschet with the certificate of termination of office.
Laschet initially remains in office as a manager. As soon as the new Bundestag has been constituted on Tuesday, its deputy, NRW Family Minister Joachim Stamp (FDP), will presumably take over the management of the official business for one day. On Wednesday, Hendrik Wüst (CDU) will be elected as the new Prime Minister in a special session of the state parliament.
The sequence of events is largely determined by the state constitution.
A member of the Bundestag cannot be a member of the government in North Rhine-Westphalia at the same time.
Therefore, Laschet finally resigns as Prime Minister the moment he accepts his mandate in Berlin.
He is still allowed to be a simple member of the Düsseldorf state parliament.
For an expected short time, Laschet will be a member of the state parliament and the Bundestag.
According to the CDU parliamentary group, Laschet wants to return to Düsseldorf from Berlin on Wednesday in order to cast his vote for Hendrik Wüst in his role as a member of the state parliament at the planned special session.
The black-yellow coalition only has one vote majority in the state parliament - that's why every member of the parliament is important.
lukewarm / dpa