{"id":1985,"date":"2026-07-24T08:07:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1985"},"modified":"2026-07-24T08:07:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T08:07:48","slug":"german-leader-merz-reshuffles-top-posts-as-he-tries-to-counter-far-right-advance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1985","title":{"rendered":"German leader Merz reshuffles top posts as he tries to counter far-right advance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BERLIN (AP) \u2014 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reshuffled top posts on Friday as he tries to boost the fortunes of his deeply unpopular government ahead of regional elections in which a far-right party could get its first state governor.<\/p>\n

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Merz took office<\/span> less than 15 months ago with pledges to reform and turn around Germany\u2019s economy, Europe\u2019s biggest, after years of stagnation. But that economic turnaround has been slow to start. And the middle-of-the-road coalition of Merz\u2019s center-right Union bloc and the center-left Social Democrats, two traditional rivals, has yet to persuade voters that it can produce results.<\/p>\n

That has resulted in Merz\u2019s popularity sinking to rock-bottom levels, while the far-right Alternative for Germany<\/span>, or AfD, has gained support on the back of widespread discontent.<\/p>\n

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Merz seizes an opportunity<\/h2>\n

Merz took the opportunity to make a series of changes after a senior ally quit as the leader of his party\u2019s parliamentary group over personal conduct that undermined his credibility. Merz plans to put his chief of staff, Thorsten Frei, in that job.<\/p>\n

The German leader said Health Minister Nina Warken will take Frei\u2019s place at the chancellery, a post that is key to the smooth functioning of the government. She will be the first woman to take that job. Another close ally, Carsten Linnemann, the general secretary of Merz\u2019s Christian Democratic Union party, will become health minister.<\/p>\n

Merz said there will be further Cabinet changes, but didn\u2019t offer details. He said those decisions will take \u201ca few days yet, and perhaps more time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe personnel changes follow a clear line,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want a government that works with great vigor and pleasure and also represents the personal diversity of our society and politics. We are a reform government and want to continue showing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Difficult regional elections are ahead<\/h2>\n

The governing parties face three difficult regional elections in September. In the eastern region of Saxony-Anhalt on Sept. 6, AfD is hopeful of winning a majority that would give it control of a state government for the first time. <\/p>\n

After months in which voters were turned off by squabbling in the coalition, Merz\u2019s government recently embarked on big plans for potentially painful change<\/span> \u2014 including a proposed reform of the creaking pension system that would include raising the retirement age gradually, income tax cuts<\/span> for low- and middle-income earners and an effort to slash red tape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has found its rhythm, despite some criticism,\u201d Merz declared last week. \u201cWe have delivered, and we have recognized the dimension of the tasks we face.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Spahn quit over surrogacy<\/h2>\n

Only days later, though, he faced a new distraction. Jens Spahn quit as leader of the Union\u2019s parliamentary group \u2014 one of the most powerful positions in the coalition \u2014 after it emerged that he and his husband had used the services of a surrogate mother in the U.S. to have a baby.<\/p>\n

Surrogacy isn\u2019t allowed in Germany. Merz\u2019s party opposes allowing it, a position that it reaffirmed at a convention in February, and Spahn himself had spoken out against it in the past. That prompted accusations of double standards.<\/p>\n

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Frei will now take Spahn\u2019s job, a position he\u2019s widely considered better suited to than coordinating the chancellery. Frei was the Union\u2019s parliamentary chief whip under Merz when the center-right was in opposition.<\/p>\n

Warken takes his place at the chancellery after shepherding the first of the government\u2019s reforms, meant to curb rising costs in the German health insurance system, through parliament earlier this month. <\/p>\n

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