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Bloomberg
Angela Merkel nominated an up-and-coming conservative to a post in Germany’s new cabinet, part of a bid to reassert control of the party by placating critics while still maintaining her centrist approach to policy.
Jens Spahn, the 37-year-old flag bearer for the party’s right wing, will become health minister if Merkel succeeds in securing her fourth term.
His appointment is the most notable change among the six cabinet-level posts she had to dole out to members of her Christian Democratic Union.
She also heeded party calls for a younger line-up and followed through on a pledge to have an even balance of men and women in the new German government taking shape. “The not-so-easy task with this personnel roster was to ensure it’s directed toward the future and that it has a good mix of experience and new faces,†Merkel said at a press conference in Berlin after presenting the candidates to the CDU’s top leaders. “I am the only one in this team who’s clearly over 60.â€
Merkel produced a surprise with her nomination as education minister of Anja Karliczek, a Bundestag lawmaker since 2013 who is little-known outside party circles. Leaving the inner circle of German government is longtime ally Hermann Groehe, the current health minister.
The CDU will gather to approve a coalition agreement with Germany’s Social Democrats. The final hurdle to the new government is the SPD’s ongoing members’s ballot, which is more contentious.