2023-09-03 11:05:36
Bavarian State Deputy Prime Minister Hubert Aiwanger sits next to spectators in a beer tent, in Keferloh, in the municipality of Grasbrunn, near Munich, on September 3, 2023, during a rally of campaign for the next elections. TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP
The head of government of the powerful Bavaria region in Germany, Markus Söder, announced on Sunday, September 3, the retention of his number two, despite the accusations of anti-Semitism that target him, having plunged him to the heart heated controversy for several days.
The controversy targets Hubert Aiwanger, vice-president of the regional government, Bavarian economy minister and also leader of the populist Free Voters party. The 52-year-old man is accused of having written an anti-Semitic leaflet when he was a high school student, which he denies.
He claims that the leaflet, dated 1987-1988, was written by his brother
“To oust him from his post would not be proportionate”, judged Sunday the head of the regional government of Bavaria, boss of the Bavarian branch of the German conservatives, the Christian Social Union (CSU), during a press conference. As the scandal drags on for more than a week, Mr. Söder admitted that his decision to retain Mr. Aiwanger “Wouldn’t please everyone”but he argued “that there is no proof that he wrote the leaflet”.
“Furthermore, the facts date back thirty-five years. No one is today who he was then “, he argued, inviting his number two to engage in a dialogue with German Jewish associations to explain and ” to repent “.
Hubert Aiwanger began by denying the accusations en bloc, denouncing a ” witch hunt “, then acknowledged the existence of this leaflet, found in his satchel at the time, but asserting that it had been written by his brother. Only later did he apologize for not distancing himself from the contents of the leaflet soon enough.
The text, written in high school during the 1987-1988 school year, was intended as a reaction to a competition organized on German history aimed at determining “Who is the greatest traitor to the fatherland”. In the leaflet, these “traitors” were invited to present “to the Dachau concentration camp for a job interview” et “a free flight through the chimney of the Auschwitz camp” or “a lifelong stay in a mass grave”.
A very political maintenance as the elections approach
“What honestly shocks me is the way Aiwanger is handling these accusations which have been going on for a week already. “Reacted the head of the Central Council of German Jews, Josef Schuster.
The retention of Mr. Aiwanger also seems to be politically motivated as Bavarian regional elections loom in October. His departure would most likely have caused a breakdown in the local alliance between the CSU and the Free Voters party, which might have backfired on Mr. Söder’s movement and forced him to ally with environmentalists in a region to the very conservative electorate.
“We will continue the coalition” between CSU and Free Electors and “there will be no coalition with the Greens”decided Sunday Mr. Söder, who does not hide his ambition to become chancellor one day.
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