For Green politician Nyke Slawik it is incomprehensible that Lambrecht’s successor is not female.Image: imago images/Future Image
Germany
During the election campaign, Olaf Scholz (SPD) promised to fill the cabinet equally – should he become chancellor. he became chancellor. Along with Greens and FDP he also managed to distribute the ministerial posts equally to women and men. At least in the first edition.
Because now, with the second appointment within the traffic light government, the SPD approved by parity. Boris Pistorius is the man who will replace Christine Lambrecht (both SPD) in the cabinet in the future.
The new defense minister: Boris Pistorius succeeds Christine Lambrecht.Image: dpa / Moritz Frankenberg
A move that particularly annoys a coalition party. Green politician Nyke Slawik, among others, shows little understanding for the Chancellor’s initiative.
Male Lambrecht successor despite qualified women
On Twitter, Nyke Slawik vented her dissatisfaction with the naming of Pistorius. She writes: “It’s a shame that the chancellor and the SPD have given up the goal of parity in the cabinet that they had set themselves.” It seems that Slawik cannot really understand this step. She adds: “We were talking to several extremely qualified women at the same time.”
Pistorius was a surprise candidate that Chancellor Scholz shook out of his sleeve at short notice. Within his party, the former interior minister of Lower Saxony is considered a go-getter. Before the naming, however, some other social democrats were in discussion. For example, the military commissioner Eva Högl or defense politician Siemtje Möller.
Slawik’s party friend Sven Kindler sees it similarly. The Green MP wrote on Twitter: “Parity in management positions is not a nice thing to have, but should be a matter of course in 2023.” Promises such as equal rights for men and women should not only be relevant during election campaigns, but “must apply when it matters.”
Kindler calls it “revealing” that the question of qualification is only asked when it comes to fulfilling the women’s quota – not with the large number of men in managerial positions. Like his predecessor Christine Lambrecht, Pistorius has had no experience in defense policy. His expertise is internal security.
Despite everything, Kindler clarifies:
“Regardless of that, I know and appreciate Boris Pistorius and wish him all the best in his new position.”
Greens leader Omid Nouripour also makes it clear that his party will always make a contribution to parity – explicitly also within the cabinet. But it is good, says the Green, that the ministerial post was quickly filled. “We face many major challenges, starting with how to continue to support Ukraine, but also how to support ours armed forces as best we can,” he wrote on Twitter.
Union welcomes departure from parity
The Union, on the other hand, seems to have no major problem with the chancellor giving up parity. On the contrary. The member of parliament Chrstioph Ploß, for example, writes that he very much welcomes the fact that Scholz broke his campaign promise. “When filling the highest public offices, gender, origin or skin color shouldn’t matter, only competence.”
Bavaria, on the other hand, is teased. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) accuses Lambrecht of wasting too much time in the Ministry of Defense. Söder thinks the replacement by Boris Pistorius is good. He wishes the Social Democrat “a happy hand”. In the next sentence of his Twitter posting, he adds another tip to the chancellor: “The issue of parity is probably over for the SPD, Greens and FDP.”
The trains of the Federal Republic are full, the streets are too. Motorists stopped altogether between June and September 2022 81,135 hours stuck in traffic. Also less than 70 percent of long-distance trains were on time in 2022. So the Germans are mobile – and they have to allow a lot of time to get from A to B. And often a lot of money too.
