Mario Czaja

Mario Czaja
MdB
Mario Czaja in 2013 as Senator
General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Union
In office
31 January 2022 – 12 July 2023
LeaderFriedrich Merz
Succeeded byCarsten Linnemann (acting)
DeputyChristina Stumpp
Preceded byPaul Ziemiak
Senator for Health, Care and Equality of Berlin
In office
24 November 2011 – 8 December 2016
Governing MayorKlaus Wowereit
Michael Müller
Preceded byKatrin Lompscher
Succeeded byElke Breitenbach (Integration, Labour and Social Issues)
Dilek Kalayci (Health, Nursing and Equality)
Senator for Justice and Consumer Protection of Berlin
Interim
In office
12 December 2011 – 12 January 2012
Governing MayorKlaus Wowereit
Preceded byMichael Braun
Succeeded byThomas Heilmann
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of the Bundestag
for Berlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf
Incumbent
Assumed office
26 October 2021
Preceded byPetra Pau
Member of the
Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin
In office
26 October 2006 – 4 November 2021
Preceded byGregor Gysi (2002)
Succeeded byKatharina Günther-Wünsch
ConstituencyMarzahn-Hellersdorf 5
In office
29 November 2001 – 26 October 2006
Preceded bymulti-member district
Succeeded bymulti-member district
ConstituencyMarzahn-Hellersdorf
In office
18 November 1999 – 29 November 2001
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byGregor Gysi (Marzahn-Hellersdorf 5)
ConstituencyHellersdorf 01
Personal details
Born (1975-09-21) 21 September 1975 (age 49)
East Berlin, East Germany
Political partyChristian Democratic Union
Residence(s)Marzahn-Hellersdorf, Berlin
Alma materTechnical University of Applied Sciences Wildau
Websitemario-czaja.de

Mario Czaja (born 21 September 1975) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since the 2021 elections.

Czaja served as the party's Secretary General from 2022 to 2023, under the leadership of Friedrich Merz.[1] From 2006 until 2021, he was a member of the State Parliament of Berlin.

Early life and career

Czaja was born 1975 in East Berlin, the capital of East Germany, and studied business administration.[2] From 1997 until 2000, he worked at insurance company Nürnberger Versicherung.

Political career

Career in state politics

Czaja entered the CDU in 1993 and became member of the State Parliament of Berlin in the 1999 state elections. He served as his parliamentary group's spokesperson on health policy from 2001 until 2011.[3]

From 2011 to 2016 Czaja was also member of the Senate of Berlin, the government body of Berlin, with responsibility for health care and social issues.[4][5] At the time, he was the youngest member of the state government led by Governing Mayor Michael Müller.[6]

In 2012, Czaja – together fellow state ministers Frank Henkel and Thomas Heilmann – unsuccessfully advocated for a reduction in the penalty-free personal use of cannabis from 15 to six grams.[7] Also during his time in office, he appointed former state government members Eberhard Diepgen, Heidi Knake-Werner, Ingrid Stahmer and Wolfgang Wieland as advisors on the city's migration policies in 2014.[8] In 2016, Czaja cancelled the government's contract with one of the city's largest operators of hostels for asylum seekers after newspapers B.Z. and Bild printed internal emails showing the company's managers joking about building a guillotine and crematorium for refugee children.[9]

Czaja was a CDU delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2017.[10]

From 2018 until 2021, Czaja served as his parliamentary group's deputy chair, under the leadership of Burkard Dregger. During that time, he was also a member of the Committee on Education, Youth and Families.[11]

Member of the German Parliament, 2021–present

Czaja won the Berlin-Marzahn-Hellersdorf district in the 2021 German federal election – a seat held by members of the PDS or The Left since the 1990 German federal election (the first to be held in East Berlin).[12]

Ahead of the Christian Democrats' leadership election in 2022, Czaja publicly endorsed Friedrich Merz to succeed Laschet as the party's chair and joined his campaign team.[13]

Other activities

Corporate boards

Non-profit organizations

Political positions

Within the CDU, Czaja is considered an ally of Jens Spahn. When the CDU/CSU entered into a coalition government with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) on the national level following the 2013 elections, he joined a group of young party members – including Günter Krings, Michael Kretschmer and Spahn – in signing an open letter which called for changes in the CDU's policies and leadership.[16] For the 2021 national elections, he joined Spahn in endorsing Armin Laschet as the Christian Democrats' joint candidate to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel.[17]

Also in 2021, Czaja publicly criticized the chairman of the CDU in Berlin, Kai Wegner, as being too right-wing, arguing that he was "closer to Hans-Georg Maaßen than Angela Merkel and Armin Laschet."[18]

Controversy

In 1997, a court ordered Czaja – who was 21 years old at the time – to pay a fine of 2,000 Deutsche Mark for desertion after he had twice failed to report for duty in the German Armed Forces. The prosecution had originally demanded a suspended sentence of four months.[19]

Personal life

Czaja's brother is Sebastian Czaja. He has been married to Julia Marx since 2012.[20] They have one daughter.[21]

References

  1. ^ Lange, Stefan. "Der neue Generalsekretär Mario Czaja ist der CDU-Macher". Augsburger Allgemeine (in German). Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Richter bestätigt Urteil gegen Mario Czaja: CDU-Politiker muß Geldstrafe bezahlen". 29 July 1997.
  3. ^ Julius Betschka and Hannes Heine (16 November 2021), Mario Czaja im Team von Friedrich Merz: Berliner Ex-Senator könnte Generalsekretär der Bundes-CDU werden Der Tagesspiegel.
  4. ^ Bebber, Werner van; Heine, Hannes (21 September 2016). "Berlins CDU sucht ihre Zukunft". Der Tagesspiegel Online.
  5. ^ Melissa Eddy and Katarina Johannsen (26 November 2015), Migrants Arriving in Germany Face a Chaotic Reception in Berlin New York Times.
  6. ^ Marina Mai (5 February 2013), Der nette Senator von nebenan Die Tageszeitung.
  7. ^ Konrad Litschko (22 May 2012), Gras: Breitseite gegen Kiffer Die Tageszeitung.
  8. ^ Thomas Lackmann (24 November 2014), Debatte um Flüchtlinge: Ehemalige Senatsmitglieder bilden Beirat für Zusammenhalt Der Tagesspiegel.
  9. ^ Guy Chazan (16 August 2016), Berlin refugee hostel staff tied to crude emails Financial Times.
  10. ^ Hildburg Bruns (7 December 2016), Wahl im Februar: Diese Berliner wählen den Bundespräsidenten B.Z..
  11. ^ Mario Czaja State Parliament of Berlin.
  12. ^ Rebekka Wiese (19 October 2021), Mario Czaja: "Ich möchte die Menschen aus Marzahn vertreten" Die Zeit, 30 July 1997.
  13. ^ Julius Betschka and Hannes Heine (16 November 2021), Mario Czaja im Team von Friedrich Merz: Berliner Ex-Senator könnte Generalsekretär der Bundes-CDU werden Der Tagesspiegel.
  14. ^ Senat entsendet Mario Czaja in den Aufsichtsrat der Vivantes GmbH Senate of Berlin, press release of 6 December 2011.
  15. ^ Caroline Copley (5 July 2021), Germany worried about COVID-19 vaccination 'no shows' Reuters.
  16. ^ Robin Alexander (8 December 2013), Brandbrief: Das Manifest der jungen CDU gegen die Spitze Welt am Sonntag.
  17. ^ Julius Betschka and Hannes Heine (16 November 2021), Mario Czaja im Team von Friedrich Merz: Berliner Ex-Senator könnte Generalsekretär der Bundes-CDU werden Der Tagesspiegel.
  18. ^ Hannes Heine (4 May 2021), Maaßen-Streit erreicht Berliner CDU: Mario Czaja greift Spitzenkandidat Kai Wegner für „riskanten Rechtskurs" an Der Tagesspiegel.
  19. ^ Richter bestätigt Urteil gegen Mario Czaja: CDU-Politiker muß Geldstrafe bezahlen Berliner Zeitung, 30 July 1997.
  20. ^ Czaja hat geheiratet, Baby kommt im April B.Z., 20 December 2012.
  21. ^ Julius Betschka and Hannes Heine (16 November 2021), Mario Czaja im Team von Friedrich Merz: Berliner Ex-Senator könnte Generalsekretär der Bundes-CDU werden Der Tagesspiegel.