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BERLIN, Sept. 4, (Xinhua/GNA) – The government of the German state of Bavaria, got in trouble after accusations of anti-Semitism, emerged against its deputy Premier Hubert Aiwanger, weeks before the state election due in October.
The state’s Premier Markus Soeder, announced on Sunday that he would not sack his deputy, one week after Aiwanger, head of the conservative Free Voters party, was first accused of writing an anti-Semitic flyer during his school days back in the 1980s.
Before the decision, Soeder had a long conversation with Aiwanger, who was to answer a catalog of 25 questions that Soeder gave earlier this week. Soeder said at a press conference in Munich that it would not be proportionate to sack Aiwanger, but he also stressed that “anti-Semitism has no place in Bavaria.” “This isn’t just a foolish youth prank,” Soeder said earlier this week, adding that “even the suspicion” that Aiwanger was behind the flyer “damages the image of Bavaria.” Still, he stressed that his deputy should be given the opportunity to speak, “reasonably, fairly, and yet also comprehensively.”
For Aiwanger’s part, he has repeatedly spoken of a “smear campaign” against him that is politically motivated. While he admitted to possessing such flyers, his brother claimed to be the author. “I deeply regret if I hurt feelings by my behavior in relation to the pamphlet in question or other accusations against me from my youth,” the deputy premier said in an apology issued earlier this week.
Aiwanger must regain the lost trust and seek talks with Jewish communities, Soeder said at Sunday’s press conference. Germany’s education policy has been active against anti-Semitism since World War II. Schools usually organize visits to former concentration camps and regular commemorative events. Nevertheless, there were 2,480 anti-Semitic crimes last year, with the number of “extreme violent” cases reaching a new high of nine since data collection began in 2017, according to the Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Anti-Semitism. Felix Klein, the German government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, accused Aiwanger of stylizing himself as a victim and damaging awareness-raising work in the country. Klein blamed Aiwanger’s apology “as late as possible, as little as possible and as lacking in empathy as possible,” and called him a “bad role model of politics for young people in Germany.” The scandal has drawn the attention of federal policymakers.
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, “Everything that has become known is very depressing.” But he added that nothing should be “covered up and blurred.”
GNA
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