The formation of a government for the first traffic light coalition in the federal government has been completed. After the new Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), his 16 ministers also took their oath of office on Wednesday. They had previously been appointed by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
As the last of the three traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP, the Social Democrats also presented the ministers they provided on St. Nicholas Day in the Willy Brandt House in Berlin. In total, the new government should now include eight heads of department and Olaf Scholz as chancellor. The fact that the parity promised by Scholz before the federal election is not quite achieved is mainly due to the fact that the FDP has nominated three men and only one woman – the Greens nominated three women and two men.
To get to parity, Scholz does not count himself now. “Parity is important to me, which is why eight of the 16 ministers will be men and eight women,” he said at the presentation of the SPD team. “And of course there will be a Federal Chancellor who is responsible for all of them.” The future chancellor called it “right” that the SPD nominated four ministers. This corresponds to “the society in which we live”, since it consists of half of men and half of women. Thus women should also have “half the power”.
According to party leader Saskia Esken, all SPD personal details were unanimously approved by the party presidium on Monday morning. “Today is the day when Nikolaus and Groko-Aus is,” said her co-party chairman Norbert Walter-Borjans. He was referring to an earlier request by the Jusos to end the grand coalition with the CDU and CSU on St. Nicholas Day.
The future federal cabinet is to be sworn in after the election of the new Federal Chancellor, which is planned for this Wednesday.
You can find out who is taking on which role in the three-party coalition that is committed to “progress” in the photo gallery.