Edmund Stoiber
Dr. Edmund Rüdiger Rudi Stoiber (born September 28, 1941) is a German politician, currently minister-president of the Bundesland of Bavaria and chairman of the Christian Social Union (CSU).
Born in Oberaudorf in the district of Rosenheim, he is a lawyer and has been, since 1974, a member of local government in Bavaria. From 1978 to 1982/83 he was secretary general of the CSU. He led the Bavarian office of state from 1982 to 1986 as undersecretary of state and from 1986 to 1988 as minister of state. As Bavarian minister of the interior he stood up for the maintenance of internal security by using the powers of the state. He also demanded that asylum be granted more restrictively (which is much more liberally handled in Germany than, for example, in the USA).
In May 1993, the Bavarian Landtag (parliament) elected him as minister-president in which office he succeeded Max Streibl.
After the withdrawal of CDU head Angela Merkel, Stoiber became the main candidate of the CDU/CSU for the parlamentary elections which were held in September 2002. However, SPD chancellor and candidate Gerhard Schröder won by a narrow margin.
See also: List of Premiers of Bavaria