As of: 01/17/2023 4:34 p.m
And one more man: With the appointment of Boris Pistorius as defense minister, gender parity in the cabinet has been thrown off balance. Chancellor Scholz had promised before his election. Criticism comes from the Greens and the Left.
It was one of his election promises: “At least half of the cabinet I lead as Chancellor is made up of women,” said Chancellor Olaf Scholz in November 2020. However, the appointment of Boris Pistorius as the new Defense Minister has upset the gender balance in the cabinet .
Previously there were eight men and eight women, now there will be nine men and seven women – not counting the chancellor himself. Scholz has received criticism for this, especially from the Greens and the Left.
Gebel: Chancellor has no place for strong women
The Greens made it clear that parity was “extremely important” to them. Group leader Katharina Dröge said Pistorius was suitable and qualified. “But it is our self-image that in 2023 there will be an equal number of cabinet members.” There could also have been a woman as Minister of Defense again. Women are at least equally qualified.
Scholz has no place for strong women at his cabinet table, writes the Berlin Green parliamentary group leader Silke Gebel on Twitter.
Criticism also comes from Linke leader Janine Wissler: By naming Boris Pistorius, Scholz says goodbye to parity within the traffic light government,” the politician told the news portal “t-online”.
Söder: Parity is officially ticked off
CSU boss Markus Söder joined the criticism: “Parity is now officially ticked off the traffic light,” said the Bavarian Prime Minister. With Scholz’s decision, it is now finally clear that gender parity no longer plays a role in the federal government.
CDU MP and Bundestag Vice President Yvonne Magwas said on Twitter: “The wind is blowing and it’s over again with parity in the SPD. Very regrettable. If it hadn’t existed with Angela Merkel.”
Klingbeil: Parity remains important to the SPD
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil defended Scholz: The question of parity is important to the Chancellor and the SPD party leadership. “It remains important,” he assured. “But in the past few days we had to make a decision on a specific personnel issue. And Boris Pistorius is the right person for this job – and then we made our decision.”
The imbalance could intensify
No criticism comes from the coalition partner FDP. The party emphasized that it should not be decided by gender. She herself had sent three men and one woman to the cabinet. The deputy FDP chairman Wolfgang Kubicki described the decision for Pistorius as a good choice. “Thank God the SPD has said goodbye to the nonsense of filling positions based on gender or regional proportional representation rather than on competence,” said the FDP politician to the “Rheinische Post”.
In the past few days there had been speculation about a ring swap to restore parity. Scholz has not yet commented on this. And the problem could be exacerbated if Interior Minister Nancy Faeser declares her top candidacy for the state elections in Hesse at the beginning of February.