Christine Lambrecht’s resignation expected
The resignation of the defense minister is apparently imminent. According to ARD information, Christine Lambrecht will probably announce this today. It is unclear whether a successor will be named immediately.
According to information from the ARD capital studio, the resignation of Federal Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht is imminent. “We hear from several sources that Defense Minister Lambrecht is to resign tomorrow, probably in the morning,” said the head of the ARD capital city studio Tina Hassel on Sunday evening in the tagesschau. The withdrawal could only be made with a written declaration. “This would be the shortest imaginable form of farewell, because Lambrecht has no mandate in the Bundestag and would then retire from politics,” said Hassel.
It is not yet known whether a successor has already been determined and could also be announced on Monday. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt and the military commissioner Eva Högl are being traded.
Klingbeil was reluctant to comment on the cause on ZDF. He did not want to comment on media reports about the resignation date. Lambrecht has “great support”. But one can assume one thing: “What we as the SPD have to decide, we decide together – with the Chancellor, with the party leadership, with the parliamentary group leader. And we announce things when they have to be announced.”
Male successor possible – through cabinet reshuffle
Should a man take over the post of defense minister, another SPD-led department would have to be headed by a woman in the future. Before the general election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had decided to fill half of the ministries with women.
There has been speculation for days about Lambrecht’s impending resignation, which the federal government did not want to comment on. The “Bild” newspaper initially reported on plans to resign. The newspaper wrote that the initiative came from her, citing “several people familiar with the events”. Lambrecht was of the opinion that a fresh start was necessary in the Ministry of Defense.
A video with New Year’s greetings from the minister on her Instagram channel, which was perceived as unfortunate, had previously increased the pressure on Lambrecht, who had been criticized for a long time. Above all from the opposition, but also from the ranks of the traffic lights, there were recently calls for the personnel to be clarified quickly.
