Second Kretschmer cabinet
# Second Kretschmer cabinet

The Second Kretschmer cabinet is the current state government of Saxony, sworn in on 20 December 2019 after Michael Kretschmer was elected as Minister-President of Saxony by the members of the Landtag of Saxony. It is the 10th Cabinet of Saxony.

It was formed after the 2019 Saxony state election by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Alliance 90/The Greens (GRÜNE), and Social Democratic Party (SPD). Excluding the Minister-President, the cabinet comprises twelve ministers. Seven are members of the CDU, two are members of the Greens, two are members of the SPD, and one is an independent politician.

## Formation

The previous cabinet was a coalition government of the CDU and SPD led by Minister-President Michael Kretschmer.

The election took place on 1 September 2019, and resulted in significant losses for both governing parties. The opposition AfD achieved a major swing and became the second-largest party behind the CDU. The Left also suffered losses, while the Greens recorded a modest improvement and moved into fourth place ahead of the SPD.

Overall, the incumbent coalition lost its majority. The CDU ruled out cooperation with the AfD or The Left, leaving a Kenya coalition of the CDU, Greens, and SPD as the only practical option. The latter two parties stated they were open to discussions. Minister-President Krestchmer said he expected an unusually long period of negotiations due to the differences between the parties; the Saxony CDU is considered one of the most conservative party associations in Germany and particularly opposed to the Greens. The SPD called for exploratory talks the day after the election; on 7 September, the CDU and Greens also voted to open discussions. Meetings began a week later.

On 3 October, the three parties announced that exploratory talks had concluded successfully. The CDU and SPD voted on 11 October to begin coalition negotiations, followed by the Greens the next day. Discussions and meetings between working groups began during the week of 21 October. Negotiations continued to five weeks before an agreement was reached. The parties intended to unveil their draft agreement on 22 November, but were delayed by conflicts over the distribution of cabinet departments.

The coalition contract was presented on 1 December. It was approved by the CDU congress on 11 December, receiving the support of around 80% of delegates. The SPD and Greens both held membership ballots to approve the coalition. The results of the SPD vote were released on 16 December, with 74% voting in favour on 64% turnout. The Greens followed on 19 December, with 93% voting to approve the agreement.

Kretschmer was elected as Minister-President by the Landtag on 20 December 2019, winning 61 votes out of 118 cast. The coalition agreement was formally signed the same day, and the new cabinet sworn in.

## Composition

| Portfolio | Minister | Party | Took office | Left office | State secretaries |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Minister-President | Michael Kretschmer born (1975-05-07) 7 May 1975 (age 48) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | |
| First Deputy Minister-PresidentMinister for Energy, Climate Protection, Environment and Agriculture | Wolfram Günther born (1973-06-27) 27 June 1973 (age 50) | GREENS | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Gerd Lippold Gisela Reetz |
| Second Deputy Minister-PresidentMinister for Economics, Labour and Transport | Martin Dulig born (1974-02-26) 26 February 1974 (age 49) | SPD | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Thomas Kralinski Ines Fröhlich |
| Minister for Interior | Roland Wöller born (1970-07-19) 19 July 1970 (age 53) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Thomas Rechentin |
| Minister for Finance | Hartmut Vorjohann born (1963-06-04) 4 June 1963 (age 60) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Dirk Diedrichs |
| Minister for Justice, Democracy, Europe and Equality | Katja Meier born (1979-09-10) 10 September 1979 (age 43) | GREENS | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Mathias Weilandt Gesine Märtens |
| Minister for Education | Christian Piwarz born (1975-07-23) 23 July 1975 (age 48) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | |
| Minister for Science | Sebastian Gemkow born (1978-07-27) 27 July 1978 (age 45) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Andrea Franke |
| Minister for Culture and Tourism | Barbara Klepsch born (1965-07-23) 23 July 1965 (age 58) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Andrea Franke |
| Minister for Social Affairs and Social Cohesion | Petra Köpping born (1958-06-12) 12 June 1958 (age 65) | SPD | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Sebastian Vogel Dagmar Neukirch |
| Minister for Regional Development | Thomas Schmidt born (1961-03-07) 7 March 1961 (age 62) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Frank Pfeil |
| Head of the State Chancellery Minister for Federal Affairs and Media | Oliver Schenk born (1968-08-14) 14 August 1968 (age 54) | CDU | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | Conrad Clemens (Representative to the Federal Government) |
| State Secretary for Digital Administration and Administrative Modernisation | Thomas Popp born (1961-11-08) 8 November 1961 (age 61) | Ind. | 20 December 2019 | Incumbent | |
