The head of government of the powerful region of Bavaria, 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,” the head of the regional government of Bavaria, head of the Bavarian branch of the German conservatives, the Christian Social Union (CSU), judged on Sunday at a press conference. With the scandal dragging on for more than a week, Mr. Söder acknowledged that his decision to retain Mr. Aiwanger “would not sit well with everyone”, but he argued “there is no no evidence that he wrote the tract”.
“Furthermore, the facts date back thirty-five years. Nobody is today who he was then,” he argued, inviting his number two to engage in dialogue with German Jewish associations to explain and “repent.”
Hubert Aiwanger had started by denying the charges outright, denouncing a “witch hunt”, then admitted the existence of this leaflet, found in his schoolbag at the time, but asserting that it had been written by his brother. . Only later did he apologize for not distancing himself from the content 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 report “to the Dachau concentration camp for a job interview” and “a free flight through the chimney of the Auschwitz camp” or “a lifelong stay in a pauper’s 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,” said the head of the Central Council of German Jews, Josef Schuster.
Aiwanger’s retention in office also appears to be politically motivated as Bavarian regional elections loom in October. His departure would most likely have caused a breakdown of the local alliance between the CSU and the Free Voters party, which could have backfired on Mr. Söder’s movement and forced him to ally with environmentalists in an area. 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.
