Edmund Stoiber

Edmund Stoiber (born Sept. 28, 1941, Oberaudorf, Ger.) is a German politician who was leader of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union (CSU) from 1999 to 2007.

Stoiber finished law school at age 30 and joined the CSU, the Bavarian partner of the federal Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Three years later he was elected to the Bavarian state legislature. There he caught the eye of Bavaria’s political boss, Franz Josef Strauss, and served as his right-hand man when Strauss was elected Bavarian premier in 1979 and made a run for federal chancellor the following year. In 1993, after posts as CSU general secretary and Bavarian interior minister, Stoiber became premier of Bavaria. He was elected chairman of the CSU in 1999.

State premiers play a key role on the national level in Germany’s federalist system, and Stoiber’s ascendancy established him as the country’s leading conservative politician. A staunch supporter of traditional and Roman Catholic values, he fought, for example, to keep crucifixes in Bavarian public-school classrooms. As premier, Stoiber also promoted law and order, favoured a cautious immigration policy, and exhibited skepticism toward the European Union (EU)—especially plans for a single European currency and EU enlargement into eastern Europe.

One of Stoiber’s victories as premier came when Germany’s top court ruled in 1999 that wealthy Bavaria could keep half of its tax revenues rather than continuing to hand over 80 percent to poorer states. A second triumph occurred in early 2002 when Stoiber effected the withdrawal of the CDU chairwoman, Angela Merkel, from the race for the chancellorship—even though for years Stoiber had denied any ambitions for the top job in Berlin. During the campaign, he promised to reform Germany’s stagnant economy and alleviate its stubborn unemployment problem by deregulating the labour market, cutting taxes, and creating jobs. Although he led in opinion polls throughout much of the race, Stoiber was narrowly defeated by incumbent Social Democrat Gerhard Schröder in the September election. Despite the loss, Stoiber revived Germany’s conservatives after years of scandal and infighting, putting them back on an equal footing with the Social Democrats.

Stoiber had ambitions to run again for the chancellorship, but Merkel secured the nomination, and in November 2005 she won the general election. The same month, Stoiber, having guided an economic boom in Bavaria, was awarded the critical post of economics minister in Merkel’s coalition cabinet. Although Stoiber had campaigned actively for the position, he ultimately declined the offer. Prolonged in-party divisions and low ratings in public opinion polls led Stoiber to resign as Bavaria’s premier and CSU chairman in September 2007.