“Will not be a stalemate”
Who does Scholz conjure up for Lambrecht?
01/17/2023, 05:30 am
After Christine Lambrecht resigned as Defense Minister, Chancellor Scholz had to come up with a solution quickly. According to Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, the personnel decision is to be announced today. Several names are in discussion.
Following the resignation of Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to announce his successor today. Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil said on Monday evening in the ARD program Hart but fair that the chancellor would announce the personal details quickly – “namely tomorrow”. “There will be no deadlock,” emphasized the SPD politician. The FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann said in the ARD daily topics with regard to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine that the vacuum must be filled immediately.
The defense minister, who had been criticized for months, wrote on Monday morning that she had asked Scholz to be released. The question of the successor initially remained unanswered. However, Scholz said: “I have a clear idea and it will become known very quickly to everyone how this should continue.” SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, head of the chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt and labor minister Heil as well as the military commissioner Eva Högl and the parliamentary state secretary in the defense ministry, Siemtje Möller, were discussed as possible candidates for the successor.
SPD women insist on parity occupation
In view of the speculation on Monday evening, Heil did not comment clearly, but emphasized personal plans in his current department. “In any case, as Minister of Labor I still have a lot planned,” said the SPD politician at Hart, but fairly. It has not yet been officially announced when and how Scholz will announce the personnel decision. The Chancellor is expected to attend a meeting in Mainz in the morning, and a visit to the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs in Brandenburg an der Havel is scheduled for midday.
Lambrecht leaves the future department head with a whole series of construction sites. The modernization of the Bundeswehr is only just beginning with the help of the 100 billion euro special fund. So far, only contracts for a good ten billion euros have been concluded. Chancellor Scholz announced the rearmament after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year.
It is also still unclear how the arms deliveries to Ukraine will continue. After the federal government recently decided to supply Marder armored personnel carriers, the current debates revolve around providing the attacked country with “Leopard” battle tanks. Deficiencies in numerous weapon systems, such as the “Puma” infantry fighting vehicle, and difficulties in procuring ammunition are also permanent problems for the troops.
The women’s organization of the SPD insisted on maintaining the parity composition of the federal cabinet – that is, an equal number of men and women as ministers. “A society that consists of more than 50 percent women must also be reflected in the cabinet,” said the chairwoman of the working group of social democratic women, Maria Noichl, of the “Rheinische Post”. “Fifty-fifty must continue to apply. That’s what the SPD stands for.”