(Bloomberg) -- A shake up in Angela Merkel's cabinet may be an option this year, the head of the chancellor's party said in response to a proposed overhaul that fueled tension in an already strained coalition.
Christian Democratic Union chairwoman Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said that she prefers focusing on the 2021 election year but that she's open to discussing the proposal made by Markus Soeder, the chief of the CDU's Bavarian sister party.
“That's a possibility that Mr. Soeder has brought into play, and as I mentioned, that's something we can discuss in the course of coming months,” Kramp-Karrenbauer told reporters alongside Soeder at a CSU meeting in Bavaria.
Soeder's call over the weekend to “renew and rejuvenate” the cabinet comes after months of wrangling with the junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, and after a series of electoral setbacks in European and regional elections this year.
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While Merkel leads the coalition as chancellor, cabinet positions are allotted by the parties, giving Kramp-Karrenbauer and Soeder significant leeway to determine personnel. Soeder zeroed in on economic policy and innovation as areas in need of an overhaul, although those posts are occupied by CDU members: Economy Minister Peter Altmaier and Education Minister Anja Karliczek.
Merkel's chief spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said Monday that the chancellor “works well with all the ministers,” a comment read as showing little enthusiasm for switching ministers.
Still, for Soeder, who is Bavaria's state premier, the issue will remain on the table.
“It's clear that we have to decide all of these questions together,” Soeder told reporters at the CSU retreat at Seeon Abbey.
Merkel has said she won't stand again for office after her term runs out in 2021.
To contact the reporter on this story: Patrick Donahue in Seeon-Seebruck, Germany at pdonahue1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Raymond Colitt
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