Tarek Mohammed Al-Wazir (; born 3 January 1971) is a German politician of

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (, ), often simply referred to as Greens (, ), is a Green (politics), green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens (formed in West Germany in 1980) and Alliance 90 (formed in East Ger ...

who served as deputy to the Hessian Minister-President, and Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development from 2014 to 2024. He is a member of the

Landtag of Hesse The Landtag of Hesse () is the unicameral parliament of the State of Hesse in the Federal Republic of Germany. It convenes in the Stadtschloss in Wiesbaden. As a legislature it is responsible for passing laws at the state level and enacting ...

and was co-chair of the Hessian Green Party.

Early life and education

Al-Wazir was born in

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

, Hesse, the son of an upper-class

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

i father and a teacher. He holds dual citizenship of Yemen and Germany. His parents divorced while he was a child, and he spent several years of his youth in the Yemeni capital (

Sana'a Sanaa, officially the Sanaa Municipality, is the ''de jure'' capital and largest city of Yemen. The city is the capital of the Sanaa Governorate, but is not part of the governorate, as it forms a separate administrative unit. At an elevation ...

) with his father, an experience he later described as very influential in his personal development. After his ''

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

'' in 1991, Al-Wazir studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in Frankfurt, where he earned a degree.

Personal life

Al-Wazir is married to a Yemeni woman, with whom he has two sons. They also split time between Germany and Yemen. Al-Wazir's surname has been an

aptronym An aptronym, aptonym, or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner (e.g. their occupation). Gene Weingarten of ''The Washington Post'' coined the word inaptonym as an antonym for "aptonym". The word "euonym" ( eu- + -o ...

since he assumed ministerial office in 2014, as "''al-wazīr''" is Arabic for "the government minister."

Political career

Al-Wazir joined the German Green Party in 1989, and has been a member ever since. From 1992 to 1994 he was chair of the party's youth organisation ( Green Youth) in Hesse. He has been a member of the

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

since 1995 and served as co-chair of the Hessian Green Party (with Kordula Schulz-Asche). Al-Wazir was the leader of the Greens during the

Hesse state election of 2008 The 2008 Hessian state election was held on 27 January 2008 to elect the members of the Landtag of Hesse. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union of Germany, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government led by List of Ministers-President of Hesse, ...

, and as such was the Green candidate for the position of Minister-President of Hesse. His party gained 7.5% of the votes. In the aftermath of the election, he pushed hard for a "red–green–red" coalition consisting of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(SPD), the Greens, and

Die Linke Die Linke (; ), also known as the Left Party ( ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of the merger of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) and Labour and Social Justice – The ...

. This would have succeeded if not for an internal revolt by SPD members, forcing a new election in January 2009. In the

2009 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2009. * Electoral calendar 2009 * 2009 United Nations Security Council election Caribbean * 2009 Antiguan general election * 2009 Aruban general election * 2009 Caymanian constitutional referendum ...

, he again stood as the Green candidate for minister-president. Surveys showed Al-Wazir to be Hesse's most popular politician at the time of the vote. This time his party, also benefitting from popular anger at the SPD, increased its share to 13.7% of the vote, but the Greens remained out of government. On 18 January 2014, after the 2013 state elections, Al-Wazir became Deputy of the Hessian Minister-President

Volker Bouffier Volker Bouffier (born 18 December 1951) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister President of the German state of Hessen from 31 August 2010 to 31 May 2022. From 1 November 2014 until 31 October 201 ...

and Hessian Minister of Economics, Energy, Transport and Regional Development in a Black-Green coalition. Thus they formed only the third CDU-Green government in Germany's 16 federal states and the first in a big and socially diverse region. As one of Hesse's representatives at the Bundesrat, Al-Wazir was a member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and the Committee on Transport. Al-Wazir was a Green Party delegate to the

Federal Convention The Constitutional Convention took place in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17, 1787. While the convention was initially intended to revise the league of states and devise the first system of federal government under the Articles of Conf ...

for electing the

president of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

in 2017. In the negotiations to form a so-called

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

of the

(SPD), the Green Party and the

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

(FDP) following the 2021 German elections, Al-Wazir was part of his party's delegation in the working group on mobility, co-chaired by

Anke Rehlinger Anke Gabriele Rehlinger (''née'' Moos; born 6 April 1976) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) serving as the minister-president of Saarland and President of the Bundesrat. After her party won the 2022 state elections ...

Anton Hofreiter Anton Gerhard "Toni" Hofreiter (born 2 February 1970) is a German politician who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag since the 2005 elections. Political career As a member of Alliance 90/The Greens, Hofreiter has been a member of t ...

and

Oliver Luksic Oliver Luksic (born 9 October 1979) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been a Member of the Bundestag for Saarland since the 2017 elections, after having previously served from 2009 until 2013. In addition to his pa ...

. In the

2025 German federal election The 2025 German federal election was held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the List of members of the 21st Bundestag, 21st Bundestag, down from 736 in 2021 due to reforms in seat distribution. The 2025 election took plac ...

, he will be the Green

direct candidate In Germany, a direktmandat ( ''English'': direct mandate) is a parliamentary seat that is won by the candidate who receives the most votes in a constituency in a legislative election. In the mixed-member proportional representation system used in ...

in Offenbach and 4th place on the

state list The State List or List-II is a list of 61 items. Initially there were 66 items in the list in Schedule Seven to the Constitution of India. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, the State List and the Concurrent Lis ...

Other activities (selection)

Regulatory agencies

Federal Network Agency The Federal Network Agency ( or ) is the German regulatory office for electricity, gas, telecommunications, post and railway markets. It is a federal agency of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and headquartered in Bo ...

for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), member of the Advisory Board

Corporate boards

Helaba Helaba, short for Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, is a commercial bank with core regions in Hesse and Thuringia, Germany offering financial services to companies, banks, institutional investors and the public sector, both within Germany and interna ...

, alternate member of the supervisory board * HA Hessen Agentur GmbH, chair of the supervisory board *

Messe Frankfurt Messe Frankfurt () is one of the world's largest trade fair, congress and event organizer with its own exhibition grounds. The organization has 2,500 employees at some 30 locations, generating annual sales of around €661 million. Its services ...

, member of the supervisory board * Wirtschafts- und Infrastrukturbank Hessen (WIBank), chair of the advisory board

Non-profit organizations

Hessischer Rundfunk (; "Hesse Broadcasting"), shortened to HR (; stylized as hr), is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, A ...

, member of the broadcasting council * Frankfurt Main Finance, member of the presidium *

Rheingau Musik Festival The (RMF) is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres. Concerts take place at culturally important locations, such as Eberbach Abbey and Schloss Johannisberg, ...

, Member of the Board of trusteesBoard of trustees

. * Stiftung Schloss Ettersburg, member of the board of trustees

References

External links

Homepage of Tarek Al-Wazir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wazir, Tarek 1971 births Alliance 90/The Greens politicians Living people German people of Yemeni descent People from Offenbach am Main Members of the Landtag of Hesse Ministers of the Hesse State Government German Muslims Members of the Bundestag 2025–2029 Members of the Bundestag for Hesse