query: member_of_political_party peter hartz
supports: Peter Hartz ( born 9 August 1941 in Sankt Ingbert ) , was the human resources executive at the German public company Volkswagen AG ( VW ) . Twenty percent of Volkswagen 's shares are owned by the state of Lower Saxony . Hartz became notable as adviser to German chancellor and former head of the state of Lower Saxony , Gerhard Schröder , with whom Hartz developed the so - called Hartz - reforms of the German labour market and job agencies - the German welfare benefit , ' Hartz IV ' , is named after the fourth stage of his reforms . Angela Dorothea Merkel (née Kasner; born 17 July 1954) is a German politician who is currently Chancellor of Germany. She is also the leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). The Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is a social-democratic political party in Germany. The party, led by Chairman Sigmar Gabriel since 2009, has become one of the two major contemporary political parties in Germany, along with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Lower Saxony is a German state ("Bundesland") situated in northwestern Germany and is second in area, with , and fourth in population (8 million) among the sixteen "Länder" of Germany. In rural areas Northern Low Saxon, a dialect of Low German, and Saterland Frisian, a variety of Frisian, are still spoken, but the number of speakers is declining. A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate, reducing the dominance of any one party within that coalition. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. A coalition government might also be created in a time of national difficulty or crisis (for example, during wartime or economic crisis) to give a government the high degree of perceived political legitimacy or collective identity it desires while also playing a role in diminishing internal political strife. In such times, parties have formed all-party coalitions (national unity governments, grand coalitions). If a coalition collapses, a confidence vote is held or a motion of no confidence is taken. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate. With about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular immigration destination in the world. Germany's capital and largest metropolis is Berlin. Other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf. Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder (born 7 April 1944) is a German politician, and served as Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. As a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor he served as Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (19901998). Following the 2005 federal election, which his party lost, after three weeks of negotiations he stood down as Chancellor in favour of Angela Merkel of the rival Christian Democratic Union. He is currently the chairman of the board of Nord Stream AG, after having been hired as a global manager by investment bank Rothschild, and also the chairman of the board of football club Hannover 96.
candidates: republic social democratic party of germany the greens union unity
answer: social democratic party of germany