Berlin The SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach is to become Federal Minister of Health. The dpa and Reuters report unanimously shortly before the announcement of the SPD ministerial posts.
The SPD did not want to announce its ministers until after their extraordinary party conference on the weekend. The delegates should be able to vote on the coalition agreement independently of persons.
In fact, Scholz apparently only spoke to candidates for cabinet posts afterwards. When asked about his possible future, a cabinet member last said that “Olaf will tell me on Monday”. Also from the party it was said that Scholz had not had a big conversation until Saturday.
According to the party, Scholz is said to have struggled for a long time in filling the ministerial posts, especially with the health department. There were loud public demands to fill the office with the well-known SPD health expert Karl Lauterbach.
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Lauterbach has not had a good position in the SPD since his candidacy for party leadership in 2019, Lauterbach smashed a lot of porcelain at the time. In addition, Lauterbach is considered unpredictable in the SPD. It is difficult for many to imagine that he will submit to cabinet discipline.
Minister of Health as the top pandemic fighter
Even in normal times, the Ministry of Health is a difficult position because there are many conflicting interests, strong lobby associations and various institutions in the health sector that have a decisive influence on health policy.
Due to the corona crisis, the health minister is now more important than almost any other cabinet member besides the Federal Chancellor. The health minister is the top pandemic fighter.
This harbors opportunities, but also risks, which the incumbent Jens Spahn (CDU) can sing a song about. If he was still in good shape at the beginning of the crisis and was even traded as a possible candidate for Union Chancellor, he has since experienced a deep crash and has been criticized for failures from many quarters, including from his own ranks.
Occupying the Ministry of Defense was not easy for Scholz either. No minister has shone in the office in recent years, but instead had to grapple with many problems that cannot be solved overnight: The equipment of the Bundeswehr is ailing, armaments orders are repeatedly delayed or are more expensive than expected. Wrong decisions in foreign assignments can also be an immediate reason for resignation.
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