Merkel in political crisis as economy minister resigns

BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel was forced yesterday to appoint a new economy minister after a shock cabinet resignation added to her political woes with Germany in recession and elections only seven months away.

Michael Glos, 64, said he was stepping down as economy minister due to his age and the need for an injection of fresh blood within his conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party.
CSU party head Horst Seehofer confirmed yrsterday that the party will appoint 37-year-old Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a rising star in German politics, as Glos’s successor.
Merkel’s spokeman Ulrich Wilhelm later confirmed zu Guttenberg would follow Glos, telling a regular news conference that she ‘thanks Michael Glos for his work’ and ‘looks forward to close co-operation with his successor.’
Elected to parliament at the age of 30, the media-savvy zu Guttenberg – full name Baron Karl-Theodor von und zu Guttenberg – is poised to be the youngest economy minister in modern German history.
In Germany, the parties in the ruling coalition – currently comprised of the conservatives and the Social Democrats – choose the ministers.
As part of Germany’s unwieldy ‘grand coalition’ agreement, the CSU holds the right to nominate the economy and agriculture ministers.
The ministerial change comes at a bad time both politically and economically for Merkel as the parties gear up for an election campaign and the economy – Europe’s largest – faces its worst recession in six decades.
The government says economic output is expected to shrink by 2.25 per cent as the global financial crisis takes its toll on Germany, the world’s largest exporter of goods.
Adding to Merkel’s worries, unemployment is rising at a blistering pace, with economists warning around 10 per cent of the workforce could be out of work by the time voters head to the polls on September 27.
– Nampa-AFP

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