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Reference ID	Created	Released	Classification	Origin
08MUNICH355	2008-10-31 14:35	2011-08-30 01:44	UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY	Consulate Munich

VZCZCXRO0414
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHMZ #0355 3051435
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 311435Z OCT 08
FM AMCONSUL MUNICH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4548
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS MUNICH 000355 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EINV INRB GM
SUBJECT:  GERMANY/BAVARIA:  CSU HOPES FOR FRESH START WITH NEW AND 
YOUNGER FACES IN CABINETAND A DYNAMIC SECRETARY GENERAL 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Newly-elected Bavarian Minister-President Horst Seehofer 
(Christian Social Union - CSU) elevated youthful, female, and fresh 
faces in the presentation of his surprising cabinet choices on 
October 30.  In a canny move, he also chose 36-year-old Bundestag 
member Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg as CSU Secretary General.  This 
makes zu Guttenberg effectively the spokesman, television 
personality, and advisor to the CSU leadership.  He is also a Berlin 
player, serving as the CSU's main foreign policy expert and member 
of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee. (Note: While zu 
Guttenberg likely will choose to retain his Bundestag seat, his 
office at CSU headquarters in Munich told us said it is not clear 
whether he will remain on the Foreign Affairs Committee or switch to 
a committee oriented toward domestic affairs.  End note.) 
Seehofer's choice underlines the CSU's claim to be more than just a 
regional party, particularly in view of the 2009 European Parliament 
and federal elections.  The group (para 4 below) needs to appeal to 
skeptical citizenry if the CSU hopes to do better in European and 
Bundestag elections in 2009. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Complicating Seehofer's and the new cabinet's task is the 
new presence of three members of the coalition member Free 
Democratic Party (FDP) (one is a State Secretary), who will make 
their own attempts to strike a favorable profile.  In all, Seehofer 
replaced sixteen of the eighteen cabinet positions with eight 
newcomers.  He could be accused of ageism since he dismissed all CSU 
cabinet members over 60 years old, thus drastically reducing the 
government's age average below 50.  Five cabinet members are women. 
Notably, the Landtag also elected its first female President, the 
64-year-old Barbara Stamm. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The new Bavarian cabinet will consist of the following 
members, all CSU unless otherwise noted as FDP: 
 
-Minister President: Horst Seehofer, 59, Upper Bavaria, elected on 
October 27 (new); 
-Minister of Economics and Deputy Minister President: Martin Zeil 
(FDP), 52, Upper Bavaria (new); 
--MOE State Secretary: Katja Hessel (FDP), 36, Middle Franconia 
(new); 
-Minister of Interior: Joachim Herrmann, 52, Middle Franconia (the 
incumbent); 
-MOI State Secretary: Bernd Weiss, 40, Lower Franconia (new); 
-Minister for Labor and Social Affairs: Christine Haderthauer, 47, 
Upper Bavaria (new, formerly General Secretary of the CSU); 
--State Secretary: Markus Sackmann, 47, Upper Palatinate (new); 
-Minister at the Bavarian State Chancery: Siegfried Schneider, 52, 
Upper Bavaria (new); 
-Minister for European and Federal Affairs: Emilia Mueller, 56, 
Upper Palatinate (new); 
-Minister of Finance: Georg Fahrenschon, 40, Upper Bavaria (new); 
--MOF State Secretary: Franz Josef Pschierer, 52, Suabia (new); 
-Minister of Environment: Markus Soeder, 41, Middle Franconia 
(new); 
--MOEnv State Secretary: Melanie Huml, 33, Upper Franconia (new); 
-Minister of Agriculture: Helmut Brunner, 54, Lower Bavaria (new); 
 
-Minister of Justice: Dr. Beate Merk, 51, Suabia; 
-Minister of Science: Dr. Wolfgang Heubisch (FDP), 62, Upper Bavaria 
(new); 
-Minister of Culture and Education: Ludwig Spaenle, 47, Upper 
Bavaria; 
--MOC&Ed State Secretary: Dr. Marcel Huber, 50, Upper Bavaria 
(new). 
 
(NOTE: Diplopedia has biographies on German political figures at: 
http://diplopedia.state.gov and then search for Germany 
Biographies. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Comment:  Seehofer's cabinet is mainly remarkable for its 
youthful representation.  We view the surprise nomination of 
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg as Secretary General as a clever move, 
particularly in view of the CSU's claim of being more than just a 
regional Bavarian party.  Zu Guttenberg is a foreign policy expert, 
a transatlanticist and a close and well-known friend to the United 
States and Mission Germany. 
 
¶5.  (U) Consulate General Munich coordinated this report with 
Embassy Berlin. 
 
¶6.  (U) Track Munich reporting at at 
http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Germ any. 
 
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