1. Thomas Ludwig Albert Oppermann was a German politician and member of the Social Democratic Party.
17 Facts About Thomas Oppermann
1. 2.
Thomas Oppermann received his abitur from the Goetheschule in Einbeck.
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From 1986 until 1990, Thomas Oppermann served as an administrative court judge in Hanover and later in Braunschweig.
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Thomas Oppermann has been a member of the since 1980 and president of the regional SPD in Gottingen since 1989.
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Thomas Oppermann was a member of the Lower Saxon Landtag from 1990 to 2005.
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Thomas Oppermann was speaker for legal affairs there from 1990 to 1998.
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Between 1998 and 2003, Thomas Oppermann served as State Minister for Science and Culture in the cabinets of Minister-Presidents Gerhard Schroder, Gerhard Glogowski and Sigmar Gabriel.
8.
In 1999, after Glogowski's resignation, Thomas Oppermann lost an internal party vote against Gabriel on becoming the next Minister-President.
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From 2003 to 2005, Thomas Oppermann was the economic speaker of the state SPD parliamentary group.
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Thomas Oppermann was elected as the First Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliamentary group in November 2007, succeeding Olaf Scholz; he was re-elected in 2011 and 2013.
11.
Thomas Oppermann became a member of the Parliamentary Oversight Panel, which provides parliamentary oversight of Germany's intelligence services BND, BfV and MAD.
12.
Between 2006 and 2013, Thomas Oppermann was the Deputy Chairman of the German-Israeli Parliamentary Friendship Group.
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When Frank-Walter Steinmeier resigned as Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Group to serve as foreign minister in Angela Merkel's second Grand Coalition, Thomas Oppermann was elected as his successor on 16 December 2013.
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Thomas Oppermann served on the Committee on the Election of Judges, which is in charge of appointing judges to the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
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In 2011, Thomas Oppermann publicly spoke out in favor of holding a national referendum over fundamental principles of the European Union on the day of the 2013 German federal election.
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In 2013, Thomas Oppermann criticized the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel as news emerged of its intentions to sell arms to Saudi Arabia, saying that the conservatives wanted to "totally upgrade" the country's military capabilities.
17.
Edathy said senior SPD members, particularly Thomas Oppermann, breached legal privilege by discussing the case with colleagues and staff.