Lower Saxony's CDU leader Lechner: Güntzler would have been a good transport minister

Lower Saxony's CDU leader Sebastian Lechner would have liked the Göttingen Bundestag member Fritz Güntzler to become the new Federal Transport Minister. “Definitely yes,” Lechner told the German Press Agency. “It would have been nice for Lower Saxony to appoint the Federal Transport Minister because we have major projects with us, for example with the A20, the A39, the ports and the waterways.”

However, he could understand Güntzler's explanation for his rejection, as such a decision also involves personal considerations. Lechner said he was also sure that Steffen Bilger, as the new transport minister, also had “a heart for Lower Saxony”.

Güntzler had initially promised Chancellor Friedrich Merz for the post, but then withdrew the promise a few hours before the planned announcement. According to his own statements, Güntzler told the Chancellor that he didn't have a good feeling and that he was the wrong man for the office.

Güntzler has a financial policy focus in the Bundestag. CDU Lower Saxony without ministerial posts under Merz

The Lower Saxony CDU is still without a minister in the federal cabinet. However, Lechner does not think that this could have a negative impact on the upcoming local and state election campaigns in the country.

“I don’t think there is much understanding among the population when we always select the federal ministerial positions based on some kind of proportionality,” he said. “It is crucial that the federal government acts and makes progress. When things are running smoothly, such as the railways and the ports, no one pays attention to where the minister comes from."

“We are always team players”

At the same time, Lechner considers the personnel debate about Merz's future as Chancellor to be wrong. When asked whether Merz, as Chancellor, still had the 100 percent support of the CDU Lower Saxony, he said: "We are always team players, for the CDU and for the Chancellor."

The CDU would be well advised to concentrate on the substantive issues again, and the federal government should implement its agreed reforms after the session break. “The coalition’s path to putting this country on a new path towards economic growth must continue,” said Lechner.

Lechner told the “Rheinische Post” about the state of the CDU: “I look at our country with concern – and therefore also at my party.”

When asked what would happen next for the CDU after the important state elections in the east next month, the Lower Saxony opposition leader replied: “The CDU must be the party that people trust to govern well. We must also be measured by this claim and this responsibility when dealing with the election results in September.”