portrait
He is more of a “semi-detached house type” – and he wants to become Germany’s second Green Prime Minister: Tarek Al-Wazir is the face of the Hesse Greens. Even if not everyone likes his course at the grassroots level.
It’s a weekly market in Frankfurt’s Bockenheim district. Tarek Al-Wazir and his Greens use the busy market to talk to potential voters. Suddenly a woman throws a cherry tart towards the Green candidate and shouts: “This is for all the destroyed forests!”
The woman doesn’t hit it correctly and the cake ends up as mud on the floor. Al-Wazir grabs a handkerchief, wipes his hands and continues to talk to market visitors. He comments dryly on the tart throwing: “That’s a waste of food.”
Balancing act as super minister
The 52-year-old has been in the political business for a long time. Al-Wazir has been Hesse’s economics minister and deputy head of government for almost ten years. In tough negotiations in 2014, he wrested a “super ministry” from the CDU.
Al-Wazir is the first Green in Hesse to be responsible for the areas of economy, energy, transport and housing. But for him that also means managing the political balancing act. Many construction projects also fall within his area of responsibility – including the expansion of Frankfurt Airport. During the 2013 election campaign, Al-Wazir promised that there would be no third terminal with the Greens. In the end, all he could do was skip the groundbreaking ceremony.
The Greens also rejected the expansion of the A49. However, Transport Minister Al-Wazir referred to the federal government’s decision. 27 hectares in the Dannenröder Forest were cleared. Climate activists still resent him for this today. It shows once again the great dilemma of the Greens and Al-Wazir. The pragmatic course is seen as a betrayal of the green ideals. Critics say the Greens have a “backbone made of jelly” – and even throw cherry tarts.
If you look at the surveys, the two expansion projects certainly didn’t hurt Al-Wazir. In the HessenTrend According to Infratest dimap, he remains the most popular state politician and ranks well ahead of CDU Prime Minister Boris Rhein and SPD top candidate Nancy Faeser in the “satisfaction” category.
The “green bogeyman” faded
The Hessian Greens are learning from this: a pragmatic course is well received by voters. Al-Wazir understood early on that important economic issues develop from green environmental issues. Even for the traditionally conservative Hesse CDU, the former bogeyman of a Green economics minister has long since lost its fright.
Al-Wazir also likes to flirt with a certain Biedermann image: “I’m not the Berlin-Kreuzberg type, but more of the semi-detached house type,” he said when he was chosen as the first Green candidate for prime minister in February of this year. And at the Green Party’s spring festival he added: He was “more Konrad Adenauer and less Che Guevara.”
The Adenauer with the semi-detached house is also considered a document eater with an elephant memory. Certainly not the worst quality for someone who wants to become Prime Minister of Hesse. However, his expertise can sometimes be his downfall. Al-Wazir can sometimes have a didactic effect. State political journalists can tell you a thing or two about it.
The green version of an Adenauer with a semi-detached house: Tarek Al-Wazir would like to become Hesse’s Prime Minister. He’s already vice.
Semi-detached house in Offenbach
The man with a German and a Yemeni passport was born in Offenbach and still lives there today. His Yemeni roots used to be an issue in the state parliament. The CDU bank once shouted “Student from Sanaa” or perhaps the wording was “Go back to Sanaa”. To this day we don’t know exactly. At that time, Roland Koch was still in power. But even in the current coalition with the CDU, the Greens often needed a lot of composure.
As a real “Offenbach boy”, Al-Wazir has learned to take verbal punishment, but also to dish it out. This is how you grow up in Offenbach. The city is always in the shadow of the metropolis of Frankfurt and is often underestimated. In any case, Al-Wazir is at home here and feels comfortable in his semi-detached house. That is certainly one reason why he was never drawn to federal politics in Berlin.
Campaigners at the weekly market: Al-Wazir in Offenbach at the end of September
However, he would have liked more tailwind from the federal capital for his election campaign. With a view to the constant arguments at the traffic lights and the almost endless discussions about the heating law, he speaks of the “circus” in Berlin. Al-Wazir is trying to go as far as possible here.
For the ambitious Al-Wazir, this election is an important turning point for his own political career. According to the polls, it currently doesn’t look as if he could become Germany’s second Green Prime Minister. It is more likely that he can prepare for another five years as deputy prime minister under the CDU. Or the Greens go back into opposition. Al-Wazir knows both roles only too well. The professional politician would also have another option: to turn his back on the state parliament after almost 30 years.