On Tuesday Federal President Steinmeier appointed Alexander Schweitzer federal labor minister (Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, MDR, Der Spiegel, Tagesschau). His predecessor Bärbel Bas, who had resigned, was dismissed from office beforehand. At the Employers’ Day Chancellor Merz demanded speed on reforms, held to ending deduction-free early retirement and, according to Deutsche Welle, announced the most far-reaching reforms in decades (Der Spiegel, Handelsblatt, Die Zeit). Schweitzer replied that decisions are needed and tied the pension law to a condition (n-tv). The SPD and the Union are arguing over whether Bas was attacked personally (Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung). Pistorius ruled out a candidacy for the SPD chair (Die Zeit, Handelsblatt).
Pension reform is the coalition’s biggest open project, and the change at the Labor Ministry comes at a time when the SPD is reorganizing its leadership. The dispute over the tone shows how thin the trust between the partners is. The longer the SPD stays without clear leadership, the harder it is to negotiate a reform package with it.
If you retire in the next few years, follow the draft bills on early retirement and on retirement provision. Following Merz’s wish they are to go quickly to the cabinet; whether the SPD agrees is open.
Union: Pensions have been dragged out for years, a new minister must deliver at once, and the chancellor was right to reject the accusations (Merz according to Handelsblatt, Die Zeit).
SPD: After Bas’s resignation there was a lack of consideration, and whoever applies pressure from day one burdens the coalition (Klüssendorf according to Die Zeit).
We are watching three things: whether Schweitzer names the condition for the pension law, whether the SPD names a candidate for the chair before the party conference, and whether Merz addresses the SPD directly in today’s government statement. Pistorius’s refusal and Klingbeil’s open future make the party’s timetable uncertain. A break-up of the coalition is not suggested in the reports, but the tone has noticeably hardened.
Die Zeit · Süddeutsche Zeitung · Der Spiegel · Handelsblatt · FAZ · Tagesschau · n-tv · MDR · Tagesspiegel · Rheinische Post · Deutsche Welle · Stern · BILD · BR (Oct. 13/14)
Schweitzer takes over the Labor Ministry, Merz demands speed on pensions, Pistorius does not want to become SPD chair
The chancellor speaks of the most far-reaching reforms in decades, while the SPD and the Union argue over the tone after the resignation of Bärbel Bas. Who will lead the party is open; no break-up of the coalition has been reported.
Alexander Schweitzer is the new federal labor minister. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier handed him the certificate of appointment on Tuesday (Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, MDR, Der Spiegel, Tagesschau). The former minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate thus sits in the federal cabinet. His predecessor Bärbel Bas, who had announced her resignation, was dismissed from office beforehand; Tagesspiegel calls it a probably unprecedented first in the history of the republic that this happened behind closed doors (single source).
The chancellor gave the new minister no grace period. At the Employers’ Day, Friedrich Merz said he had “no intention of becoming the nation’s darling” (Der Spiegel, n-tv, FAZ). According to Deutsche Welle, he announced the most far-reaching reforms in decades. Schweitzer is to bring the agreed draft bills into the cabinet quickly (Handelsblatt, Die Zeit), and Merz held to ending deduction-free early retirement (Die Zeit); according to Handelsblatt he considers the end of the “pension at 63” fair. FAZ reports another statement: the country is currently experiencing the biggest push toward modernization. Previous governments had let pensions drag, he said according to Der Spiegel; the wait had already been “too long” for him (Handelsblatt).
Schweitzer replied that decisions are needed and tied the pension law to a condition (n-tv); the brief report does not say which. The CDU expects him to stick to the pension decisions he had partly criticized earlier (Die Zeit). SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf does not see the coalition in danger, but questions individual measures (Die Zeit). Klingbeil and Bavaria’s minister-president Söder, according to Handelsblatt, commit to the pension reform; Tagesschau lists three issues on which it is stalling.
At the same time the dispute over the tone after the resignation goes on. Klüssendorf accuses the Union of a lack of consideration for Bas (Die Zeit). Union politicians insist they did not attack her personally; SPD chair Lars Klingbeil, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung, could not name any concrete counterexamples. Merz rejected the accusations from the SPD (Die Zeit, Handelsblatt); according to Rheinische Post he spoke of “unfair claims” and demanded an apology from Manuela Schwesig. BILD reports that Klingbeil and Merz clashed over the Bas case (single source). T-Online describes defiance in the Union after the fall of Bas.
In the SPD the search for a new leadership begins. The party wants to elect its entire top anew, Klingbeil leaves his future as chair open, and the Juso chair sees an opportunity in the reshuffle (FAZ). Defense Minister Boris Pistorius ruled out a candidacy (Die Zeit, Handelsblatt, Stern). Ulf Kämpfer, SPD chair in Schleswig-Holstein, floated Schwesig for a dual leadership (Der Spiegel); Brandenburg’s minister-president Dietmar Woidke named Rehlinger and Schwesig (Die Zeit).
What remains open is who leads the party, when the party conference takes place and whether the pension reform comes as fast as Merz demands. Today the chancellor gives a government statement in the Bundestag on the EU summit (Der Spiegel, Handelsblatt); it will show whether he tones down his language toward the SPD. Tagesschau asks whether the resignation is a chance for a fresh start in the coalition, and notes that nothing is certain.