New German labour minister sworn in after Muentefering resignation

Nov 27, 2007, 10:07 GMT

Berlin - New German Labour Minister Olaf Scholz was sworn in Tuesday, a week after he was appointed to take the place of Franz Muentefering, the veteran Social Democrat (SPD) politician who resigned for personal reasons earlier this month.

Scholz, also a member of the SPD, took the oath from Norbert Lammert, president of the lower house of the German parliament, the Bundestag. He chose to omit the phrase 'so help me God' in the ceremony held in the presence of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Before his appointment, 49-year-old Scholz, a specialist in labour law, had been the SPD's floor leader in parliament since 2005. Before that he was party secretary-general and leader of the SPD in the northern city-state of Hamburg.

Muentefering's other post of vice-chancellor has been taken over by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, also of the SPD, retaining the balance in Christian Democrat (CDU) Merkel's broad coalition government.

Sixty-seven-year-old Muentefering resigned on November 13, giving as his reason his wife's serious illness.

He nevertheless made clear that he was bitterly disappointed at being unable to push through plans for a minimum wage in the postal sector, which is currently undergoing market reforms.