Germany gets new defence minister

 

CHANCELLOR  of Germany, Angela Merkel has appointed one of her closest advisers to succeed Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, who resigned as Germany's defence minister over a plagiarism scandal.

According to the Guardian (UK), Thomas de Maizière, Merkel's one-time chief of staff in the chancellery, moves from Germany's home office, where he has been interior minister since October 2009.

Guttenberg handed in his notice after being stripped of his PhD when it was found some of it was plagiarised.

De Maizière, 57, is considered a safe pair of hands for Merkel, whose Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) has suffered defeats in two key regional elections.

The Gurdian reported that she needs someone trustworthy to continue with Guttenberg's reform of the German army, which will see conscription abolished later this year.

The new defence minister is an experienced strategist who has politics in his blood – his cousin is Lothar de Maizière, who was the last prime minister of East Germany.

Thomas de Maizière began his own political career in 1983 working for the CDU mayor of Berlin, Richard von Weizsäcker, and worked his way up the party ladder, becoming Merkel's chief of staff when she was made chancellor in 2005.

Taking De Maizière's position in the ministry of the interior is Hans-Peter Friedrich, who is from the CSU, the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's CDU.

As Guttenberg is a CSU politician, a top job had to be given to a member of his party under the coalition agreement. But Merkel wanted one of her own in the ministry of defence to ensure the planned reforms progress through parliament as smoothly as possible.

The chancellor was widely criticised over her handling of the Guttenberg plagiarism row. She continued to support her colleague through two weeks of front page stories over the authenticity of his thesis, leaving him to resign rather than bowing to pressure to sack him.