Westerwelle stepped down as party leader in 2011 after the party was wiped out in Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate and lost half its seats in Baden-Württemberg.

FDP leader Guido Westerwelle became the unofficial leader of the opposition by virtue of the FDP's position as the largest opposition party in the Bundestag.

On election night party leader Westerwelle said his party would work to ensure that civil liberties were respected and that Germany got an " equitable tax system and better education opportunities.

The FDP supports gay rights ; former party leader Guido Westerwelle is openly gay.

Westerwelle, the youngest party chairman at the time, emphasized economics and education, and espoused a strategy initiated by his deputy Jürgen Möllemann, who, as chairman of the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of party, had led his party back into the state parliament, gaining 9. 8 % of the vote.

In the federal elections of 2009, Westerwelle committed his party to a coalition with Dr Merkel's CDU / CSU, ruling out a coalition with Social Democrats and Greens, and led his party to unprecedented 14. 6 %.

By July the party was only receiving 3 % support in opinion polls, a record low, reflecting what political insiders had called his " last stand " in January, comparing Westerwelle and his party to Captain Ahab and the Pequod.

Westerwelle himself, who was made party chairman particularly because his predecessor Wolfgang Gerhardt had been viewed by many as dull and stiff, has labelled his approach as Spaßpolitik ( fun politics ) in the past.

Early in the campaign, Guido Westerwelle, leader of the Free Democrats, declared himself a " Chancellor Candidate ," usually a title reserved for the main election leaders of the SPD and CDU / CSU.

Also, German politician and leader of the Free Democratic Party Guido Westerwelle was born in Bad Honnef.

Philipp Rösler is FDP chairman, having succeeded Guido Westerwelle, the party's second-longest serving chairman, in May 2011.

Angela Merkel was re-elected as chancellor, and Guido Westerwelle served as the Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor of Germany.

Because of the losses Guido Westerwelle had to resign as chair of the FDP in favor of Philipp Rösler, Federal Minister of Health, who was consequently appointed as vice chancellor.

Guido Westerwelle (; born 27 December 1961 ) is a German liberal politician, who, since 28 October 2009, has served as the Foreign Minister in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel, and who was Vice Chancellor of Germany from 2009 to 2011.

Guido Westerwelle was born in Bad Honnef in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Westerwelle joined the FDP in 1980.

In 1996, Westerwelle was first elected a member of the Bundestag, filling in for Heinz Lanfermann, who had resigned from his seat after entering the Ministry of Justice.

In 1998, Westerwelle was re-elected to parliament.

In the federal elections of 2005, Westerwelle was his party's frontrunner.

When neither Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democrats and Greens nor a coalition of Christian and Free Democrats, favored by Angela Merkel and Westerwelle, managed to gain a majority of seats, Westerwelle rejected overtures by Chancellor Schröder to save his chancellorship by entering his coalition, preferring to become one of the leaders of the disparate opposition of the subsequently formed " Grand Coalition " of Christian and Social Democrats, with Merkel as Chancellor.

Westerwelle became a vocal critic of the new government.

In 2006, according to an internal agreement, Westerwelle succeeded Wolfgang Gerhardt as chairman of the parliamentary group.

In July 2011 Westerwelle was the President of the United Nations Security Council as he headed the German delegation to the United Nations.

Westerwelle is a staunch supporter of the free market and has proposed reforms to curtail the German welfare state and deregulate German labour law.

Shayne stepped back to let him slump to the ground, and then dived over him through the open door into Harris who was cursing loudly and trying to drag a gun from a shoulder holster, somewhat impeded by the steering wheel.

Nonetheless, the politically astute army officers then stepped aside from political office ( the national presidency ), and made way for a general election of the national government of Guatemala.

But by then, the Chargers fell on hard times ; Gillman, who had returned as general manager, stepped down in 1971, and many of the Charger players from the 1960s had already either retired or had been traded.

We could have stepped aside from that task and then shouted, and that would be the end of our contribution ... They would shout back at us and that would be the end of the story.

The Lyons government stepped in and paid the debts and then passed the Financial Agreement Enforcement Act to recover the money it had paid.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez visited Vietnam in 2006 and since then his government has stepped up bilateral relations with the country, which also included receiving the Communist Party General Secretary, Nong Duc Manh in 2007.

Amidst failing health, in 2006 Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who then became President when Fidel stepped down in 2008.

The generator terminal voltage is then stepped up by the power station transformer to a higher voltage ( 115 kV to 765 kV AC, varying by the transmission system and by country ) for transmission over long distances.

Evans bought the site and stepped in to take charge of the project, which was then still in its infancy.

In Ireland, the first fish and chips were sold by an Italian immigrant, Giuseppe Cervi, who mistakenly stepped off an America-bound ship at Cobh ( then called Queenstown ) in County Cork and walked all the way to Dublin.

As the market for vibraphones was proven, first as a vaudeville novelty instrument and then as a jazz instrument, several other manufacturers stepped in to supply the demand.

Chapter 1 contains a concise description of how dinners are cooked in the future, including reference to a " quickthaw ", which would now be called a microwave oven (" I grabbed two Syntho-Steaks out of the freezer and slapped them in quickthaw, added a big Idaho baked potato for Dad ... then stepped up the gain on the quickthaw so that the spuds would be ready when the steaks were.

Bailey then stepped up to the mike to play " The Pan American Blues ", his song inspired by the Pan American, a L & N Railroad express / passenger train.

In her second visit to Spicer ’ s courtroom, she said a man stepped forward and poked a large, bronze pistol into a unnamed Cowboy's belly, then took a couple of steps backward.

He then stepped down as president on May 1, 1972.

Newton then excavated the site and found sections of the reliefs that decorated the wall of the building and portions of the stepped roof.

When Jiang Zemin stepped down in 2003, the offices of General Secretary and President were once again both given to one man, then Vice-President Hu Jintao.

Although Jiang, then 76, stepped down from the powerful General Secretary and the Politburo Standing Committee to make way for a younger fourth generation of leadership, there was speculation that Jiang would retain significant influence because Hu was not associated with Jiang's influential Shanghai clique, to which six out of the nine members of the all-powerful Standing Committee were believed to be linked.

On March 4, 2004, Dell stepped down as CEO of Dell Inc. but stayed as chairman of the board, while Kevin Rollins, then president and COO, became president and CEO.

When he stepped forward toward it, it receded and then faded away.

Masséna's cavalry, under Lasalle and Marulaz promptly stepped in to protect the retreating infantry, driving off the Austrian horse and then charging the artillery that the Austrians were preparing to deploy in front of Aderklaa.

He won his first 20 fights, 13 by knockout, and then he stepped in class for the first time, when he boxed future world title challenger Josue Marquez in 1971, and beat him by a ten round decision.

An alumnus stepped in by endowing the Dane Professorship of Law and insisting that it be given to then Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story.

Stone then stepped to the platform and the crowd grew silent while she spoke.