Olaf Scholz surprises with the personality of Boris Pistorius. The new secretary of defense is actually qualified for another office. A strategic mistake by the chancellor?
Berlin – Olaf Scholz had to change his federal cabinet for the second time. After the resignation of family minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) in April, defense minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) resigned. Her successor will be the SPD politician Boris Pistorius. But wouldn’t the new man be better off elsewhere?
Pistorius as the new defense minister: pros and cons for the occupation
While the traffic light welcomes the personnel, there is criticism from the opposition. According to Union faction vice Johann Wadephul, Pistorius is a “cast from the B team”. Afterwards, CSU boss Markus Söder openly raved about the military commissioner Eva Högl for the post. dr Joachim Weber, an expert on security policy at the University of Bonn, reprimanded in conversation with our editors also that Pistorius was “simply not familiar with security policy”. This was shown by his first statements as a minister, when he spoke of Germany’s “indirect” participation in the war. “Anyone who reads his résumé knows that up to now he has had nothing to do with international security issues.” Pistorius’ earlier course on Russia has also come under criticism.
Still, there are arguments for Pistorius. The boundaries between domestic and security policy are sometimes fluid, and there are points of contact. In Lower Saxony there is a base for the German Navy and the largest army location. Pistorius has also served, incidentally as the only one in the current cabinet. His assertive, sometimes rigid political style should be welcomed by the Bundeswehr. That was not enough for the office of SPD leader, like Scholz Pistorius applied in 2019 for the post in vain. Nevertheless, Pistorius scores above all with one ministerial criterion: he has experience.
He has headed the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior and Sport since 2013. Quite a long time. Of the current interior ministers, only Bavaria’s Joachim Herrmann (CSU) and Bremen’s Ulrich Mäurer (SPD) have been in office longer. Pistorius is possibly the SPD’s most prominent state minister. Especially since the second largest federal state of Lower Saxony is considered a political test for larger tasks, see for example former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. It was therefore foreseeable that the 62-year-old would be considered for a federal post. However, it came as a surprise that it became the Ministry of Defense. His name has not previously been circulated. Because it would be better off elsewhere?
Because of Faeser: Scholz could have fired the Pistorius cartridge too early
With his CV, Pistorius is actually considered the ideal candidate for the Federal Ministry of the Interior. This is currently held by the SPD politician Nancy Faeser. However, the 52-year-old from the Main-Taunus district could soon make the department available. She is considered the top favorite for the office of top candidate for the Hesse election in October. Hesse has been in the hands of the CDU since 1999, but now the SPD has an opportunity for change. After the resignation of the long-serving Prime Minister Volker Bouffier, his successor Boris Rhein still seems too unknown. In polls, the Social Democrats are just behind the CDU.
Faeser could give new impetus to the election campaign as a top candidate, and corresponding considerations have been circulating for weeks. Especially since Faeser, as head of the Hesse SPD, is fueling the rumors: “My heart is in Hesse,” she said at the most recent party conference. On February 3rd at the Hesse summit of the SPD, Faeser will publicly confess. If she opts for the top candidate, that’s it for federal politics. Dancing at two weddings would be too much of a burden, which would also make Faeser doubly vulnerable. Then Scholz may have to fill the next ministerial post. With Boris Pistorius he has blocked a possible candidate himself. The chancellor may have fired the Pistorius cartridge too early. (as)
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