Leader of the opposition (Germany)

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then-Leader of the Opposition Angela Merkel with future Leader of the Opposition Guido Westerwelle at the Munich Security Conference in early 2005.

The leader of the opposition in Germany is the parliamentary leader or leaders of the strongest opposition faction in the German parliament, the Bundestag. It is a nominal title that is not even mentioned and does not have any formal functions in the by-laws of the Bundestag. However, the leader of the opposition is, by convention, the first person to respond to the most senior government spokesperson during a debate.^[1][2] The title also exists on a state level, but only in the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein it is formally recognized as an actual office.

Only two leaders of the opposition were directly elected Chancellor of Germany afterwards: Helmut Kohl (1976–1982) and Angela Merkel (2002–2005).

List of opposition leaders in Germany since 1949 (Federal Republic of Germany)[]

References[]