The federal government has expressed its horror at the allegations against the Bavarian Deputy Prime Minister Aiwanger and has called for a complete investigation. Meanwhile there are new allegations.
On the sidelines of their cabinet meeting at Meseberg Castle, the heads of the federal government demanded a complete clarification of the affair about an anti-Semitic leaflet from Bavaria’s school days from Hubert Aiwanger (Free Voters).
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said that nothing should be “hushed up and blurred” and that “necessary consequences” would have to be drawn if necessary:
Everything that has become known is very depressing.
Lindner: Don’t put anti-Semitism into perspective
FDP leader and Economics Minister Christian Lindner said that anti-Semitism in Germany should under no circumstances be relativized. The allegations are shocking. Clarity must urgently be created “with the necessary consequences that he (Aiwanger) himself or the Bavarian Prime Minister must draw,” added the FDP politician.
Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that Aiwanger’s handling of the previous reports was “unbelievable”. For Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), the question now arises as to whether he still wants to work in the future with a politician who has also recently attracted attention with right-wing populist statements. “I find that hard to imagine,” said Habeck.
Söder also demands answers
Meanwhile, Söder asked Aiwanger to answer all allegations, including new ones, quickly and comprehensively. “All questions must be clarified beyond doubt. There must be no suspicion left,” said Söder on the sidelines of an appointment in Beilngries in Upper Bavaria. That applies to questions that have been around since the weekend – but also to new allegations that have now become known. The 25 questions sent to Aiwanger also included these new allegations.
Söder was reacting to accusations from a former classmate of Aiwanger, about which ARD magazine report Munich had reported: Aiwanger is said to have occasionally “shown a Hitler salute” when entering the already occupied classroom, as the classmate told the magazine. According to his own statements, he was in the same class as Aiwanger for two years. In addition, Aiwanger “very often imitated these Hitler speeches in this Hitler slang”. Even anti-Jewish jokes were “definitely made”.
Special meeting of the cabinet brought no clarification
Söder did not dismiss Aiwanger yesterday after a special session of the state government cabinet made up of CSU and free voters, but gave him a list of 25 questions that Aiwanger should answer.
At the weekend, he denied allegations that he had written an anti-Semitic leaflet at his school at the age of 17. The leader of the Free Voters party declared at the weekend that he was not the originator. His brother claimed to have written the paper.
Aiwanger remains cautious
Aiwanger himself initially remained unusually quiet – for four days there was radio silence on his account on platform X – formerly Twitter. In the morning, the politician then posted the sentence: “Dirty campaigns backfire in the end.” As a rule, the Free Voters boss writes all the posts himself.
Aiwanger case overshadows election campaign in Bavaria
The incident overshadowed the Bavarian election campaign. A new state parliament will be elected there in six weeks. Aiwanger is the top candidate for the Free Voters, Söder is again running for the CSU. Söder had decided early on that he wanted to continue to coalition with the free voters. Postal voting has been available since Tuesday.
In the most recent polls from early August, the CSU was 39 percent, the Greens 14, the Free Voters between 12 and 14, the AfD between 13 and 14, the SPD at nine and the FDP at four percent.