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SPD departments
Minister selection by Olaf Scholz: a little courage, a lot of tried and tested and an open ear for the people
Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz (left) presents the SPD ministers in the future government coalition – including (from left) Karl Lauterbach, Nancy Faeser, Wolfgang Schmidt, Christine Lambrecht, Klara Geywitz. In the background: SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil (2nd from right).
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
Finally the SPD has declared itself and filled its ministerial posts. Olaf Scholz heard the loud calls for a health minister, Karl Lauterbach. The selection of the upcoming chancellor shows the efforts to make changes.
It took long enough, and it is fair to ask whether it was really necessary to keep the public under suspicion for so long. Above all, the talk about a new health minister would not have needed it in view of the urgent corona problems. But now they are finally here, the SPD ministers. And: The future Federal Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, has succeeded – at least at first glance – in a remarkable mixture.
Karl Lauterbach – the “must-minister”
It remains to be seen whether Scholz made the decision in favor of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach easy, or whether he simply couldn’t get around the technically competent and publicly omnipresent Rhinelander. The positive thing about this decision is that the future chancellor has shown an ear for the people, even though he is not considered Lauterbach’s biggest fan.
In any case, the call for the 58-year-old could not be overheard. And now the constant commentator of the Corona management can and must prove that he can do it, if possible better than his predecessor. This not only applies to Corona, but also to the major topic of care and the health system as a whole. Lauterbach applied intensely for this job for almost two years. Hopes and expectations are correspondingly high.
A woman for the inside – a good thing!
Scholz shows courage with his decision to fill the important Ministry of the Interior with a woman for the first time. Nancy Faeser, the opposition leader in the Hessian state parliament and a distinguished domestic politician, is taking on a department that in the past was often left to law-and-order men. Scholz not only has formally equal positions in his cabinet (if he is removed as Chancellor), but also hands a central government department into female hands. That is good and right, and it redeems part of the promise of a “future coalition” – but is basically more of an adaptation to the present.
The challenges that await Nancy Faeser could hardly be greater, given the division in society after two years of pandemic and the increasing radicalization of the “lateral thinking” scene. According to the incumbent SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil, during the drafting of the domestic political part of the coalition agreement, it became clear that she was more than up to these challenges. As for Lauterbach, the same applies to Faeser: Now it must and may prove itself.
SPD and partners must now “dare to progress”
Scholz proves two things with the other casts. First: It rewards those who have done a good job (Heil, Schulze, Lambrecht). Second, he doesn’t forget his closest colleagues. The fact that Wolfgang Schmidt, a long-time political companion, close confidante and also co-architect of the successful Scholz election campaign, would become Chancellor’s Minister, whistled from all rooftops. Klara Geywitz was Scholz’s partner in the unsuccessful application for the SPD chairmanship – and now fulfills several functions: She was a Groko-friendly social democrat, and as a Brandenburg citizen reinforced the group of East German ministers who were still too small: inside and clad with the revived In view of the scarcity of affordable housing and rising rents, the building ministry is a central issue for the Scholz government.
See in the video: New Minister of Health Lauterbach – “The pandemic will take longer, but we will manage it”.
A courageous line-up, trust in proven forces and an open ear for wishes from the people – Olaf Scholz’s mixture seems to be right. The coming years will show how much progress the Ampel-Kabinett will really dare to make and what progress it will make.