Bavaria
Aiwanger: Apology in “Hour of Distress”
The debate about Hubert Aiwanger continues. photo
© Sven Hoppe/dpa
There is a special session in the Bavarian state parliament today on the affair surrounding an anti-Semitic leaflet. Hubert Aiwanger spoke on a talk show the night before.
“I don’t think anyone would deny that a lot of young people screwed up when they were young,” he said. “And there were a large number of allegations, including tasteless jokes and so on, where I honestly have to admit that after almost 40 years I no longer know in detail who told which joke and when, whether I laughed along or told one myself have.”
“How you do it is wrong”
Aiwanger added: “And I think that in this hour of distress it is also good to say: If I made a mistake somewhere, I apologize in any way for it. I’m open enough and man enough .”
“Some said: What are you apologizing for anyway,” said the free voter boss. Otherwise it would have been: “Why doesn’t he apologize. If he apologizes too little, it’s bad, if he apologizes too much … – well, ok, how you do it, it’s wrong.” It is now but also “enough said about it”. When asked what was the worst thing he had done, he said, among other things: “I’m not going to unpack children’s and youth stories here again.”
Aiwanger also showed understanding that the President of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, Charlotte Knobloch, said she did not accept his apology.
“Of course these were turbulent times,” said Aiwanger. “You can’t expect Ms. Knobloch not to accept an apology on the phone. I apologized and she neither actively rejected nor accepted it, but just left it there.” It is “logical” when Knobloch says that when the opportunity arises, you will talk about it in more depth.
“One or a few copies” in his school bag
Two weeks ago, Aiwanger initially denied in writing that he had written an anti-Semitic leaflet when he was at school, which the Süddeutsche Zeitung had reported on. At the same time, he admitted that “one or a few copies” were found in his school bag. Shortly thereafter, his brother declared himself the author of the pamphlet.
As a result, more and more allegations were made about Aiwanger’s behavior at the time. After several days he apologized publicly – but at the same time went over to the counterattack and complained about a political campaign against himself. Prime Minister Markus Söder is sticking to him: A dismissal would not be proportionate, the head of government said on Sunday. Today there is a special session in the state parliament on the affair.