Legislators in Saxony elected Stanislaw Tillich, 49, on Wednesday as premier of their German state, succeeding Georg Milbradt, 63, who said he was stepping down for the sake of an orderly handover, according to dpa. Both men belong to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Tillich is a leader of the Sorb people, a proud Slavic-language minority that has lived since time immemorial in the state's Lusatia region and thought by some to be related to the Serbs of Serbia. The unique language and customs of the Sorbs are legally protected. Germany also has an official Danish-speaking minority. Tillich, who is a Catholic, recited his oath and finished with the phrase, "So help me God," twice: in German and in Sorb. As state finance minister, he has built up his popularity. He was selected Saturday by the CDU for the state leadership with no opponent. He was appointed premier on Wednesday by the state assembly in Dresden on the first ballot with 66 out of the 121 available votes. In a region where the collapse of German communism wiped out most industry, Saxony has prospered best during two harsh decades, rebuilding its economy around its car and semiconductor industries. But the state government's finances were weakened when a state-owned bank, the Saxon Landesbank, invested in US securities that became nearly worthless in the subprime financial crisis. Milbradt said carping about this by the other party in his government, the Social Democrats, hastened his move to go. Eleven of Germany's 16 state premiers belong to the CDU or its CSU Bavarian sister party. The only other candidate Wednesday was a nominee of the extremist National Democratic Party NPD who won 11 votes. That far-right party and independents formerly associated with it in Saxony have 12 seats.
