German State Premier Malu Dreyer steps down from her position.
Mainz Shake-Up: Malu Dreyer, current Minister-President of Rheinland-Pfalz, announces her resignation, two years prior to the upcoming state election. This opens up a potential opportunity for Social- and Transformations Minister Alexander Schweitzer to make his mark as her successor, ahead of the vote.
Multiple outlets, including "Spiegel," "Rheinpfalz," and dpa, have reported on Dreyer's resignation, citing internal sources. On July 10, Schweitzer, a fellow SPD member, is anticipated to be elected as her replacement by the Mainz Landtag.
The Mainz State Chancellery remains tight-lipped about the reports, yet they have scheduled a press conference for 2 p.m. There has been talk of this move for quite some time. Dreyer, aged 63, has been battling Multiple Sclerosis for years.
Dreyer became the Regionschef in Rheinland-Pfalz in 2013, taking over from Kurt Beck. The current government is a traffic light coalition, consisting of SPD, Greens, and FDP. The next state election in Rheinland-Pfalz is set for the spring of 2026. Schweitzer would thus have the chance to contest the election as a well-known Regionschef.
Schweitzer, originally from Landau in the southern Palatinate, has been a part of the Rhineland-Palatinate cabinet since the government formation post the 2021 state election. The 50-year-old served as a minister in the Rhineland-Palatinate government in 2013 and 2014. Following this, he served as the SPD Fraktionschef in the Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag. Besides Schweitzer, Michael Ebling and current Landtagsfraktionschef Sabine Baetzing-Lichtenthaeler (both SPD) were also in the running as potential successors to Dreyer.
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Malu Dreyer, who has served as the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate since 2013, hails from this German state. After her announcement of resignation, Alexander Schweitzer, also from Rhineland-Palatinate and a fellow SPD member, is expected to take over as the new head of the state government.
