Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - The outgoing Prime Minister of Hesse, Volker Bouffier (CDU), has said goodbye to the Greens in the state parliament. It was a touching moment, he said on Tuesday in Wiesbaden. The time of the black-green coalition in Hesse were "very good years". This is a stable basis for the future of the alliance. He is very sure that Boris Rhein (CDU) will be elected as the new Prime Minister of Hesse next Tuesday in the state parliament.
Bouffier called it "a right decision" that he is now retiring after 50 years in politics and 40 years in the state parliament. "Everything has its time," said the 70-year-old. As a farewell, he received a bouquet of sunflowers and a cactus from the Greens in addition to wine.
The latter is an allusion to the fact that it was "prickly at times," said Greens parliamentary group leader Mathias Wagner. In the black-green government coalition, two parties from very different social spectrums found each other. That was essentially Bouffier's performance, said Wagner.
