Resignation: criticism from Bavaria of Lauterbach’s dealings with Wieler
resignation
Criticism from Bavaria of Lauterbach’s dealings with Wieler
Lothar Wieler is resigning from his position as President of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). photo
© Wolfgang Kumm/dpa
He was one of the faces of the corona pandemic: RKI boss Lothar Wieler is now dedicating himself to new tasks. Bavaria’s health minister sees Wieler being pushed out of office.
After the RKI boss announced his resignation Lothar Wieler Criticism comes from Bavaria about the way the federal government deals with the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The impression was created that Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) would not tolerate any other experts next to him in the limelight, said Bavaria’s Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) in Munich.
“Lothar Wieler was the face of the corona pandemic for a long time. I very much regret that the joint appearances of the RKI-Presidents and the Federal Minister of Health have hardly taken place in the past few months,” said Holetschek.
Holetschek recognized Wieler’s expertise and leadership qualities during the corona pandemic. “His assessments were an important compass in times when politics, society and business were looking for orientation and action had to be taken quickly,” said the CSU politician. “With expertise, prudence and great commitment, Mr. Wieler has contributed to leading Germany through a serious health crisis. We sincerely thank him for that.”
Lauterbach should now check whether the change in leadership at the Robert Koch Institute could be used to make its structures even more effective. It is worth checking, for example, which tasks and processes during the pandemic could have been tailored even more efficiently to the RKI.
