- Roland Koch
Infobox Politician
name = Roland Koch
caption =
small_
office =Minister President ofHesse
term_start = 1999
term_end =
predecessor =Hans Eichel
successor =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1958|3|24|mf=y
birth_place =Frankfurt am Main ,West Germany
nationality = German
death_date =
death_place =
party = CDU
relations =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
religion =Roman Catholic
website =
footnotes =Roland Koch (born
March 24 1958 inFrankfurt am Main ) is a Germanpolitician and actingMinister-President ofHesse . He took office onApril 7 1999 , immediately becoming President of the Bundesrat, completing the term begun by his predecessor as Minister President,Hans Eichel .In 1979 Koch became the youngest person to hold the office of chairmain of the CDU inMain-Taunus county. From 1983 until 1987 he was vice-chair of the federal youth organization of the CDU. In 1985 he completed his studies to become a lawyer.Until 1993 Koch was a city council member in his hometown of
Eschborn . He was also a member of theMain-Taunus district council and parliamentary leader of the local CDU group from 1989 until 1997. In 1987 he got elected to the legislature of Hesse, where he became vice-chair of the CDU parliamentary group in 1991 and in 1993 its chair. Since 1998 he has also been chair of the Hessian state party.Koch is seen as a rhetorically gifted politician; critics have accused him of
populism . [Sueddeutsche Zeitung online [http://www.sueddeutsche.de/deutschland/artikel/521/150153/] "Most brutal populism" - Hesse Prime Minister Roland Koch faces a spate of criticism on his statements about foreign teenage criminals] In the state elections in 1999, the CDU began collecting signatures to document the resistance in the population to plans of the federal government to makedual citizenship easier for foreigners to obtain. Because some people viewed this action as "collecting signatures against foreigners", they tried to portray this campaign as "xenophobic"Fact|date=January 2008. Koch was able to win the election and displace the incumbent,Hans Eichel .In November 2006 Koch was elected vice-chairman of the CDU.
Prior to the Hesse state election of 2008 Koch was once again accused of using xenophobic tactics by pledging to get tough on youth crime, which is concentrated among immigrant and minority groups. In the course of the election he lost his party's majority in the Hessian Parliament and it is unclear whether he will be able to remain Minister President following the period of government formation.
His father
Karl-Heinz Koch was also a politician in Hesse. Koch and his wife Anke have two sons. He isRoman Catholic . [ [http://www.bundesrat.de/nn_41838/SharedDocs/Personen/DE/laender/he/Koch-Roland.html?__nnn=true Bundesrat Roland Koch ] ]References
External links
* [http://www.roland-koch.de Homepage of Roland Koch] de icon
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