"Lex Strobl?": Hard argument about waiting period for ex-ministers

Created: 05/12/2022, 16:19

Members of the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg debate in the plenary hall.

© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa

The green-black government introduced its draft law for a waiting period for resigning government members to the state parliament on Thursday.

The opposition from the SPD, FDP and AfD criticized that the draft was not strict enough and would continue to allow ministers or state secretaries to switch to jobs after the end of their term of office in which they could turn their insider knowledge into money.

Stuttgart - The State Secretary in the State Ministry, Florian Hassler (Greens), said the draft had two goals: "First, to strengthen confidence in the independence of politics and politicians.

And secondly, not to make it unnecessarily difficult for politicians to enter the economy and society and vice versa.”

"It would result in expertise being thwarted for no reason."

So far, it's been like this: nobody can stop anyone in the southwest who wants to switch from government to business.

Unlike in the federal government and other federal states, there are no rules that prevent politicians from jumping quickly into lucrative jobs.

Some time ago, the SPD and FDP complained that ex-environment minister Franz Untersteller (Greens) was advising the Mannheim-based energy supplier MVV just nine months after retiring from politics.

more on the subject

SPD sees a "paper tiger" in draft for waiting period

Opposition increases pressure on Minister Strobl

Police affair: public prosecutors are investigating BaWü Minister Strobl

Boris Weirauch, speaking for the SPD, complained in the debate that the draft does not per se mean that there are no concerns if a member of the government works in the area for which he was responsible.

He accused the Greens and CDU of subsequently rehabilitating Untersteller's move to a main competitor of the partially state-owned company EnBW.

Weirauch suspected that the coalition did not want to obstruct the career of Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) if he stumbled over the police affair.

"Perhaps the Lex Untersteller will soon become a Lex Strobl, who knows?" dpa