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Tobias Hans (CDU)
Photo: Uwe Anspach / dpa
The CDU and SPD in Saarland confirmed their state chairmen in office on Saturday.
CDU Prime Minister Tobias Hans was re-elected as state chairman at a state party conference in Saarbrücken with a large majority, as was the SPD state chief and Minister of Economic Affairs, Anke Rehlinger.
Both had already been chosen as the top candidates of their parties for the state elections next March on Friday evening.
In this election campaign, the CDU is running for the first time with a country list with equal representation, as the party announced.
"Our personnel offer represents a mix of personal skills that are important for the future of the country," Hans had already explained on Thursday.
Hans has been Prime Minister of the Saarland since March 1, 2018.
He succeeded Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU), who switched to federal politics as general secretary of her party around a year after the state elections.
Hans has also been the chairman of his regional association since October 2018.
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Anke Rehlinger (SPD)
Photo: Oliver Dietze / dpa
Rehlinger was already the top candidate of the SPD in the state elections in 2017.
At that time it was defeated by Kramp-Karrenbauer.
The lawyer has been chairwoman of the Saarland SPD state association since 2018.
When the Saarland Minister of Economic Affairs Heiko Maas (SPD) was appointed Federal Minister of Justice in 2014, Rehlinger succeeded him in the economic department.
Since then she has also been Deputy Prime Minister.
Linke chooses her list next Sunday
The two governing parties CDU and SPD are the first parties in Saarland to draw up their state lists for the state elections.
For Sunday next week, the list election is planned for the left.
This is likely to be shaped by the escalated dispute between the state association and parliamentary group.
The group leader Oskar Lafontaine announced in September that he no longer wanted to run for office.
The AfD wants to draw up its list on November 28, the FDP, which is not represented in the state parliament, on December 11.
The Greens want to hire a new managing director of the state association at a small party congress on Sunday next week.
After quarrels about the state list for the federal election, a large part of the state office had resigned.
Since then, the board has only consisted of a rump.
slü / dpa