Karl Lauterbach (SPD) was hardly in office as Minister of Health at the end of last year when he made a clear announcement about the legacies of his predecessor Jens Spahn (CDU). It was about the suspicion of bribery in mask deals with which private traders and brokers had made huge profits. “We can’t just let that fall under the table,” Lauterbach said. That must be checked very carefully.
Since then, nothing has been heard from the Federal Minister of Health on this matter. And Lauterbach also ducks away from other abuses that go back to Spahn’s time as minister. There is so much to be clarified and corrected. Be it the partially free money that pharmacies received from the state for the distribution of corona protective masks. Be it the lack of controls at the private rapid test centers, which seem like an invitation to fraud and could cost the state billions.
There is no suspicion of bribery against Spahn. But how he and his ministry have sometimes squandered taxpayers’ money in the fight against the pandemic is scandalous enough. Lauterbach should have cleaned up, he has had more than enough time since taking over the ministerial post almost six months ago. But the new minister prefers to protect the old one. Be it because the scientist and talk show guest Lauterbach may be overwhelmed with the management of a ministry. Be it out of consideration for his party, which was in government at the time.
It is also due to the SPD that there is no Corona investigation committee in the Bundestag, since the Greens and FDP are not doing anything against their coalition partner. Such a committee could do a lot of good in addition to the overdue clarification. Much could be learned from the mistakes made in the fight against the pandemic for future disasters.
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