Olaf Scholz, German chancellor, is coming under mounting pressure to quickly unveil a successor to Christine Lambrecht, the defence minister who quit on Monday after a succession of gaffes.

Lambrecht, whose resignation had long been demanded by Germany’s conservative opposition, said that a “months-long media focus” on her had left no room for a factual discussion about the German military and national security policy.

Her departure comes with Berlin facing a momentous decision on whether to send German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine — and whether or not to allow other European nations to do so.

Lambrecht had been due to meet her US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, on Thursday ahead of a crucial meeting of international supporters of Kyiv at the US’s Ramstein air base in western Germany the following day.

Scholz later thanked her for her service as minister and said he had a “clear idea” of who should replace her, without divulging who that person was. “Everyone will know very soon what’s going to happen,” he told reporters.

Politicians of all stripes urged him to act fast. “Uncertainty would be bad for Germany,” said Bijan Djir-Sarai, general secretary of the liberal Free Democrats, part of Scholz’s three-party governing coalition.

But Scholz might struggle to replace Lambrecht. The job of defence minister has long been considered something of a poisoned chalice in Germany: in Berlin it is often described as the “ejector seat”, the place where many a promising career has come to an inglorious end.

Germany has had 20 defence ministers since the second world war, and only one of them, Helmut Schmidt, went on to become chancellor.

Possible candidates to replace Lambrecht include Eva Högl, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces who has documented the parlous state of the German military and is well-liked by the troops.

Högl used an interview with the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on Sunday to call for a tripling of the chancellor’s promise of an extra €100bn in funding for the Bundeswehr to €300bn. She voiced caution, however, on sending Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, warning: “You have to weigh up whether the Bundeswehr can really do without them.”

Siemtje Möller, the junior defence minister, has also been touted as a potential successor, as has Lars Klingbeil, leader of Lambrecht’s Social Democratic party (SPD). He comes from a military family and is believed to have a good understanding of soldiers’ concerns.

German media have also named Wolfgang Schmidt, the chancellor’s chief of staff, and Hubertus Heil, the labour minister, as among the runners and riders.

But Scholz has committed to having an equal number of male and female ministers in his cabinet, and according to that logic, Lambrecht would have to be replaced by a woman. Christiane Hoffmann, his spokeswoman, said on Monday it was “important” to the chancellor to preserve gender parity.

Lambrecht, 57, was tasked with playing a key role in overseeing the “sea change” in Germany’s approach to defence and security that was promised by Scholz in the days after Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

But she quickly became a favourite punch bag for the opposition, who lambasted her for her lack of military knowhow and the glacial pace of reforms to the Bundeswehr — the federal army — particularly its cumbersome system of military procurement.

Lambrecht was widely mocked shortly after the start of the Ukraine war, when she was asked if Germany would provide military aid and replied that it would send Kyiv 5,000 helmets. She was also ridiculed for taking her son with her on an official trip in an army helicopter.

Calls for her to step down grew after an ill-judged New Year’s Eve video message that addressed the war in Ukraine while fireworks exploded in the background. In that video, Lambrecht said she associated the conflict with “many special impressions, many encounters with interesting, great people”.

Additional reporting by Patricia Nilsson in Ulm

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