{"id":48608,"date":"2025-05-06T00:43:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T04:43:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/what-to-know-about-germanys-new-government\/06\/05\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-05-06T00:43:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T04:43:03","slug":"what-to-know-about-germanys-new-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/what-to-know-about-germanys-new-government\/06\/05\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"What to Know About Germany\u2019s New Government"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Exactly six months after Olaf Scholz\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/06\/world\/europe\/germany-coalition-collapse-government.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">three-party coalition imploded<\/a>, Friedrich Merz, a conservative Christian Democrat, will be sworn in as Germany\u2019s next chancellor on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The swearing-in comes after less than two months of negotiation between the Christian Democratic Union, or C.D.U., which came in first with 28.5 percent of the vote, and the incumbent Social Democrats, known as S.P.D., which came in third with just 16.5 percent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Merz, 69, who took a decade-long break from politics after he was passed over in favor of Angela Merkel, has never held any government office. A talented and engaging speaker, he has made clear his ambition to return Germany to a leadership role in Europe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2f84b69f\">What challenges does the new government face?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Germany is probably at its most perilous moment since reunification 35 years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even before President Trump announced tariffs, Germany\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/22\/business\/germany-economy-budget-elections.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">economy was in a slump<\/a>. China, once a booming market for exports, has lost its taste for German luxury cars and other German exports. Because of the sanctions on Russian gas, energy is expensive. And labor costs are higher than average, while public infrastructure is failing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Germany also appears at risk of losing the American security guarantees that, before Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, allowed it to invest relatively little in defense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On top of it all, the far-right AfD, which Germany\u2019s domestic intelligence service <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/02\/world\/europe\/germany-afd-far-right-extremist.html\" title=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">labeled \u201cextremist\u201d<\/a> last week, is surging in the polls and running neck and neck with Mr. Merz\u2019s C.D.U.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-c624016\">Who will help Merz run the country?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Some of the choices for Mr. Merz\u2019s cabinet have surprised political watchers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Merz has tapped several people from the private sector, an exceedingly rare decision for Germany\u2019s federal government. Most people up for the job of minister have been in high-level politics for years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Karsten Wildberger, for example, led MediaMarktSaturn, Germany\u2019s biggest electronics retailer, until this year. Now he will try to help Germany move into the 21st century as its first digitization and modernization minister.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Katherina Reiche, who will be the first woman to lead the Economy Ministry, ran a big regional electricity provider.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Both have reportedly taken big pay cuts to run their ministries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Merz named only seven of the 17 ministers who will be sworn in under him. A Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, named three, and the S.P.D. named seven.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Boris Pistorius, the very popular Social Democratic defense minister, will stay in his post, which is also rare in German politics. Lars Klingbeil, the head of the Social Democrats, will get the post of vice chancellor and finance minister.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">But the S.P.D. has also bet on a number of younger, lesser-known politicians to fill their ministries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Verena Hubertz, who is 37 and co-founded Kitchen Stories, a cooking platform, will lead the ministry of housing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Uwe Jun, a political science professor and keen watcher of Berlin politics, said that while some of the choices made by the parties were unorthodox, both were trying to deliver on the promise of political change.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThe parties want to present new faces, and that has ultimately led to one or two surprises in the selection,\u201d he said, \u201cbut they have one thing in common, too: loyalty to their respective party leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Two of the ministers, Karin Prien and Reem Alabali-Radovan, were not born in Germany, which is unusual in German politics. Additionally, Ms. Prien, who belongs to the progressive wing of the C.D.U. and who will oversee education, is Jewish \u2014 another first in postwar Germany. Some of her ancestors fled the Nazis by moving to the Netherlands in the 1930s.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-2b072a56\">How does the swearing-in work?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Swearing in a chancellor in Germany is a parliamentary procedure that is associated with much less pomp \u2014 but much more commuting \u2014 than its American equivalent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">First, Mr. Merz has to be elected chancellor by the 630-seat Parliament. The coalition holds 360 of those seats. It\u2019s not a big majority, but since there\u2019s no reason for anyone to stray from party lines, he is expected to win the simple majority needed on the first round.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Merz will then be driven a mile across the Tiergarten to the presidential residence, Schloss Bellevue, where President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will hand him his nomination document. Then he will head back to be sworn in by the president of the newly formed Parliament.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That procedure is repeated when Mr. Merz officially announces his cabinet. All 17 ministers will travel to the president for their papers before returning to be sworn in at Parliament.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"css-13o6u42 eoo0vm40\" id=\"link-5b69e5d6\">How likely is this government to last?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The chances are better this time around.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Scholz had to wrangle three very different parties during his tenure. And two of them, the Greens and the liberal Free Democratic Party, had opposing ideas on a number of issues, the key one being spending.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">This coalition may be more likely to hold for another reason: This time, its members may feel that there is no other option.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">With the AfD growing, an early election could bring it more seats, making governing even harder. Whatever their differences on policy, neither of the parties wants that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/05\/06\/world\/europe\/germany-new-government.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Exactly six months after Olaf Scholz&rsquo;s three-party coalition imploded, Friedrich Merz, a conservative Christian Democrat, will be sworn in as Germany&rsquo;s next<br \/><button class=\"read-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/what-to-know-about-germanys-new-government\/06\/05\/2025\/\">Read More &rsaquo;<\/a><\/button><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/05\/06\/multimedia\/06int-germany-what-to-know01-photo-cjwt\/06int-germany-what-to-know01-photo-cjwt-facebookJumbo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}