Job-swapping - Pistorius, a CSU heavyweight and hardly any women: This is what the Merz team could look like

In the days immediately following the election, Friedrich Merz is sorting out his government issues, but of course also the people and their offices. Nothing is set in stone yet, but the telephone and video conferences, including with candidates, are said to last into the night.

There is a filing cabinet, says one person involved. What he means is more a list of names on the Chancellor-in-waiting's smartphone. And there is an idea of ​​how the departments will be structured in the future, which was largely already finalized before the election.

The office of Vice Chancellor goes to the coalition partner. Since Lars Klingbeil could now also become parliamentary group chairman after his party chairmanship, he will probably not necessarily sit at the cabinet table as the most powerful man in the SPD.

The other man from Lower Saxony, Boris Pistorius , will certainly have his place there and will be able to become Vice Chancellor. Merz and Pistorius as two gnarly men with assertiveness could present an image that the Germans could live with quite well, at least for a while.

In addition, Pistorius could remain Minister of Defense - a role that will be significantly upgraded because, following the US announcements on the future of NATO, Merz will strengthen the European defense union. Pistorius could become the architect of a European NATO.

It is about nothing less than an Iron Dome, which, based on weapons systems that protect Israel, could defend Europe against Russia. If Pistorius remains Minister of Defense, the CDU would probably have the Foreign Minister for the first time in more than half a century. It is a position that Pistorius can also take on, especially since it could be supplemented by the development aid department. This would mean that an entire ministry could be saved.

The third Lower Saxon, Hubertus Heil, defended his constituency as a direct candidate. But it is questionable whether he will continue to play a major role in federal politics. There might be too many Lower Saxons in the top positions and Heil as the executor of Olaf Scholz's announcements on citizen's allowance and minimum wage make the SPD man at least a shaky candidate.

His social affairs department will probably be dismantled. The part that controls the issue of work is to be assigned to the Ministry of Economic Affairs - according to reports in Union circles. In return, the Ministry of Health could be incorporated into the Ministry of Social Affairs - which would save an entire department. Jens Spahn, as a former health minister, is a good candidate here. However, the SPD, which does not want to completely give up on being a party of social justice, will stake its claim here.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is evaluated in this way, will probably lose its responsibility for climate protection, which would end up with the Ministry of the Environment. The current Secretary General and driving force behind the CDU's basic program, Carsten Linnemann, would be a candidate if CSU leader Markus Söder does not want to push through other plans here.

On election night, Söder made two things clear with a unique gesture: He was the first CSU leader not to stay in Munich during a federal election, but to take the stage in Berlin together with the Union's candidate for chancellor. This signals that he stands by Merz, but he is also making sure that things go the way he thinks they should.

It is a given that the CSU will appoint the Bavarian farmers' president Günther Felßner as Minister of Agriculture, even though he has already been fined for an environmental offence. Alexander Dobrindt is also definitely eligible for the position, even though he once pushed the unfortunate toll issue.

He is said to be keen to follow in Theo Weigel's footsteps as finance minister. But Dobrindt already holds a powerful position as head of the CSU team in the Bundestag: nothing can go against him in the coalition committee, where every project will be decided in the future, that's clear.

Thorsten Frei is also likely to be a strong figure in Merz's cabinet. The CDU's previous parliamentary manager has addressed the issue of migration noticeably often in recent weeks, which could be an indication that he is aiming for the Interior Ministry.

It seems clear that the Union wants to lead this house in the future. The ministry has the crucial role to play in taking the wind out of the AfD's sails on the migration issue and implementing one of Merz's central promises, the migration turnaround. If it goes to the Union, however, it would also have to be careful not to lose its coalition partner, the SPD. The term "Denmark model" is currently doing the rounds. In the neighboring country, the Social Democrats have succeeded in making the issue credible again through a strict migration policy.

So far, these top positions appear to be filled entirely by men. However, there are still areas to be filled such as the environment, transport, construction, family and digitalization, which could be of interest to the former CDU Agriculture Minister Julia Klöckner as well as the current SPD Bundestag President Bärbel Bas.

Dorothee Bär, on the other hand, could take on the topic of digitization. The CSU politician is not only the first-vote queen, having received more than 50 percent in her constituency of Bad Kissingen, she was also the only Federal Government Commissioner for Digitization in Angela Merkel's last cabinet.

Speaking of Merkel: The former Chancellor wished her successor "good luck in forming his government" via text message, her spokeswoman said.