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If there is a traffic light coalition, Karl Lauterbach could become the next health minister. His qualifications speak for him, but within the SPD also have other ambitions.
Berlin – The exploratory talks are ongoing. It is not yet clear whether there will be a traffic light coalition of the SPD, FDP and the Greens. If so, the doctor and health economist Karl Lauterbach can hope for the post of health minister. He would trust himself to do that, but education and research ministers would also be an option from the politician’s point of view, as he did in an interview with the Daily mirror betrayed.
Karl Lauterbach gains popularity during Corona
45 percent of respondents want a poll by the polling institute Civey for the Business Insider according to a health minister from the SPD. Most of them probably have the well-known health expert Karl Lauterbach in their heads, who stood out for his expertise in the corona pandemic. This does not seem to be a single recording, because also a survey by the opinion research institute Insa on behalf of Bild.de sees the SPD politician ahead in terms of popularity. Around a third of those questioned would like the professor and doctor to become part of the next federal government. In doing so, he overtakes his party colleagues. During the corona pandemic, the politician was a frequent guest on talk shows and for interviews, and he significantly increased his level of awareness.
Politicians do not always receive posts with which they are also familiar with the content. The current Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU), for example, is a trained banker and studied political science. Karl Lauterbach, however, would have the right qualifications: He studied medicine and has a license to practice medicine. He also studied at Harvard University, where he first obtained a Master of Public Health and then his second doctorate. His focus was, among other things, epidemiology, which is why he was a sought-after health expert during the corona pandemic. His full title is Prof. Dr. med. Dr. sc. Karl Lauterbach, he taught as a professor at the University of Cologne, among others. In the federal elections, he again won a direct mandate in his constituency of Leverkusen – Cologne IV, which speaks for his support among the population. But it also polarizes. Some German citizens are annoyed by his constant reminders and his omnipresence in the media.
Lauterbach polarizes – and receives competition from its own ranks
“Karl Lauterbach warns”, so began one or the other headline during the corona pandemic. But it wasn’t just his constant reminders that got on the nerves of many a citizen. Lauterbach is also an advocate of citizens’ insurance, but not everyone is convinced of it. The “two-class system” of private and statutory health insurance is to be abolished. Most of the neighboring European countries have some kind of citizens’ insurance, in Germany the idea is still controversial.
In an interview with Focus Online Lauterbach said that he was in politics to make a difference, not to get a job. But if one goes hand in hand with the other, that is nice. “If not, you can still make a difference,” Lauterbach continues. Had he been offered the post of Minister of Health in the past, he would have accepted it. “I wouldn’t have been overwhelmed by it either. But it just wasn’t like that, ”he said on the program of the satirist Kurt Krömer at the beginning of the year. “Everything’s fine.” Maybe now he’ll get a second chance at the job.
But there is competition from their own party. Some see the SPD party leader Saskia Esken as serious competition for Lauterbach. Melanie Leonhard has also been named as a possible health minister. The Senator for Work and Health in Hamburg is chairwoman of the SPD Hamburg – and thus has a good relationship with Scholz, who was mayor of the Hanseatic city before his ministerial office. Scholz has not yet commented on Leonhard, her name has not really appeared in public yet. But Scholz seems to be able to imagine Esken as a minister. For some, however, she is more of a candidate for the office of Minister of Education. That would be good news for Lauterbach.