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POLITICS

Do you know Merkel’s cabinet better than the Germans?

Think you know your Spahns from your Seehofers and your Giffeys from your Barleys? Take our picture quiz and see if you know Angela Merkel's fourth cabinet better than the average German voter.

Published: 3 April 2018 17:13 CEST
Do you know Merkel's cabinet better than the Germans?
Photo: DPA

Angela Merkel’s fourth government is now nearly a month old, but a recent poll by Forsa has revealed that most Germans do not know who is in the cabinet.

42 per cent of voters and 62 per cent of 18-29-year-olds were unable to name a single cabinet minister.

So how well do you know the cabinet known as Merkel IV? Who moans about English speaking waiters, who sees “hundreds of thousands of Angela Merkels”, and who the hell is Gerd Müller? 

Test your knowledge of Merkel’s cabinet in our picture quiz, and see if you can beat the average German voter.

 

POLITICS

Scholz calls on coalition to ‘pull ourselves together’

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday called on his fractious governing coalition to "pull ourselves together" following a dismal showing in EU parliament elections last week.

Published: 16 June 2024 08:38 CEST
Scholz calls on coalition to 'pull ourselves together'

In power since the end of 2021, the three parties in government — Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP — have been at loggerheads on a wide range of issues including climate measures and budget spending.

“I think that this is one of the entirely justified criticisms of many citizens, namely that there is too much debate” within the coalition, Scholz told German television channel ZDF on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy.

“We need to pull ourselves together and stick together to reach agreements,” he added.

“The people have the right to demand that things change,” Scholz told public broadcaster ARD.

The three parties in the coalition suffered a severe defeat in the European elections, with the SPD achieving its worst result in a national election since 1949.

Subsequently, Scholz has faced mounting criticism within his own party.

On Saturday, however, Scholz told ZDF and ARD that he was “sure” that he would be the SPD’s next candidate for the chancellorship in the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2025.

In the very short term, a new test awaits the coalition, which must reach an agreement on the 2025 budget by the beginning of July.

The FDP’s finance minister is opposed to any exceptions to the rules limiting debt and to any tax increases.

On the other hand, the SPD and the Greens are opposed to cuts in social welfare or climate protection.

The debate is also focused on increasing the resources allocated to the German army.

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