BERLIN (AP) — Germany's new interior minister has been criticized by his own equalities officer for naming only men to the ministry's top leadership team.

News website Zeit Online reported Thursday that Maria Spetter described the decision as a "mockery" of the new government's pledge to ensure equality in leadership positions by 2025.

In a letter to Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, she reportedly said the failure to appoint women had left many staff angry and perplexed.

The issue came to the fore earlier this week when the ministry published a photo showing him flanked by eight men and the caption "leadership team of the BMI (interior ministry) complete," prompting outrage on social media.

The ministry said Seehofer had chosen people he felt "were the right ones to tackle the big challenges before us."