20/05/2005
In choosing the university professor, Dr. Horst Köhler, as Head of the German Republic, there is much to be said about the ability of the democratic systems of a great state like Germany to choose the first-line men. ( Available in Arabic
Horst Köhler was born on February 22, 1943 in a small village in Poland for German parents. In 1969, he ended his studies at the University of Topinggen and was appointed as assistant at the Economic Research Department. In 1977, he obtained his PhD in Economics. He started working in 1976 at the Ministry of Economy in Bonn. With his brilliance, he was selected by the Minister of Finance to set the tax reform policy for Germany. After that, he was appointed Head of Department of Financing & Loans for International Monetary Affairs. In 1990, he was chosen to lay down the policy for a unified currency between the two halves of Germany. Counsellor Helmut Kohl chose him to head the delegation that was to negotiate with the Soviet Union the evacuation of the Soviet forces from East Germany, and again to head the negotiating team on the “Maastricht Agreement”, concerning a unified European currency. Upon the recommendations of German Counsellor Gerhard Schroeder, Dr. Köhler became Head of IMF in Washington. On July 1, 2004, Dr. Köhler became President of the German Republic.