Söder stirs up ministers: who is wobbling before the election – and who is still firmly in the saddle

Created: 01/19/2022 07:39

By: Christian Deutschländer

Markus Söder apparently wants to make some personnel changes in the cabinet before the 2023 state elections.

© Sven Hoppe / dpa

In 2023 there will be elections again in Bavaria.

Before that, Prime Minister Markus Söder could make some personnel changes in his cabinet.

Is the Söder rumbling coming in the Council of Ministers?

In the CSU*, a cabinet reshuffle for Bavaria is expected in the spring.

There are increasing indications from Prime Minister Markus Söder that he is dissatisfied with several ministers.

Yesterday again: "In due course" he will "refine the team," he announced in an internal CSU video conference.

Söder* clearly stated his goal.

By next year's state elections, he wants a government team that meets three criteria: Each minister must be well-versed in his subject area and accepted by the industry.

Everyone must have what it takes to be the counterweight to the ministers of the traffic light coalition nationwide.

And: A prominent CSU minister must come from each administrative district.

Markus Söder: Cabinet reshuffle in Bavaria could be imminent

Söder is bitterly serious.

He knows: If the Bayern election in 2023 goes wrong, his career will be over.

That's why he has no mercy on pale ministers.

He showed how tough he can be in 2018 when he knocked Ludwig Spaenle out of the cabinet - the decades-long friendship broke up.

Only a few CSU ministers can be unconcerned.

Söder is impressed by how Klaus Holetschek runs the health department: a lot of media presence, every other day on ARD and ZDF, the main lines agreed, the details under control.

Söder is now also satisfied again with Joachim Herrmann (inside) and Michaela Kaniber (agriculture).

Finance Minister Albert Füracker is now speaking up more often – keywords are inflation and ECB trouble.

State Chancellery Minister Florian Herrmann is working quietly but effectively.

Bavaria's cabinet: it could be tight for three ministers

Observers believe that three jobs are in jeopardy.

Söder expects more impetus from Minister of Art Bernd Sibler.

The cultural scene scolds more and more shrillly because of the Corona * rules, in technology and research, which also belongs to Sibler, there is little to be heard.

Söder wants to score exactly there in 2023: "Laser and meat loaf," he said recently.

There is speculation as to whether Munich's Markus Blume will come on here.

As a young MP, Blume wrote innovative concepts for the CSU – before he had to organize the elections as General Secretary, in which the CSU slumped more and more.

Transport Minister Kerstin Schreyer is also complaining that she is not making enough of the job, the administration is slow.

Social Affairs Minister Carolina Trautner also developed little appeal.

Only clear climbers are missing.

Ex-Minister Ulrike Scharf, head of the Women's Union, could be about to make a comeback.

In the CSU there are also whispers about Deggendorfs* district administrator Christian Bernreiter – and about Emmi Zeulner, young member of the Bundestag and nurse from Franconia.

She was the vote queen in the botched federal election in 2021.

You can read more news from Bavaria here.

By the way: Our Bayern newsletter informs you about all the important stories from Bavaria.

Sign up here.