Bodo Ramelow, a former Minister President of Thuringia and politician of the Left Party, criticizes the Merz cabinet for its lack of representation of East Germans. Ramelow said in an interview with T-Online that he finds the decision regrettable, as he sees it as a continuation of the decisions made in the coalition agreement. “This agreement does not have the handwriting of using the positive force of transformation from the new states for all of Germany” Ramelow stated.
The new federal government is thus taking a path that makes East Germany appear as something bothersome, according to Ramelow. “This does not deserve the German reunification. There is no recognizable single appointment with an eastern perspective and the sensitivity for the opportunities of the new states.”
On the other hand, Jan Redmann, the CDU state leader of Brandenburg, defends the current list of cabinet members against criticism that there is not enough personnel from East Germany. “With the native Brandenburger Katherina Reiche, economic policy expertise finally enters the Ministry of Economics” Redmann said in an interview with T-Online. From a Brandenburger perspective, they are “excellently represented” in the decisive questions of energy policy.
Regarding Reiche as an eastern personality, she had previously been criticized for living and working in North Rhine-Westphalia for years. Redmann now stated that the federal government consists of “competent persons from East and West.” He added that the federal ministers are responsible for their portfolios, not for regions.