Pandemic policy
Left-wing politician reports Lauterbach for infidelity
According to Sören Pellmann, there is a suspicion that the public sector has suffered damage. photo
© Martin Schutt/dpa
At the end of 2022, the Federal Minister of Health started a campaign for the corona vaccination. Now the Federal Audit Office is criticizing deficiencies in the award of the contract. And the left turns on the public prosecutor.
The left-wing politician Sören Pellmann has filed a criminal complaint against the Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) was charged with infidelity, taking advantage and bribery. The background is a report from the Federal Audit Office on possible inconsistencies in the awarding of an advertising campaign for the corona vaccination. This emerges from the criminal complaint submitted to the German Press Agency. The Federal Ministry of Health rejected the allegations.
Specifically, it is about the “I protect myself” campaign from October 2022. According to Pellmann’s advertisement, total costs of 44.8 million euros were incurred by the end of 2023. Referring to the Court of Auditors, Pellmann complains that the Federal Ministry of Health awarded the contract to the advertising agency Brinkert-Lück, even though the ministry had a framework agreement with another agency, namely Scholz&Friends. “From the perspective of the Federal Audit Office, this violated procurement law and impermissibly excluded competition,” says Pellmann’s complaint.
There is a suspicion that damage has been caused to the public sector, writes the chairman of the Left Group in the Bundestag. There is also the suspicion of taking advantage because the Brinkert-Lück agency was also responsible for the 2021 SPD election campaign. “It cannot be ruled out that the BMG (Federal Ministry of Health) paid an increased price for awarding” the campaign. Pellmann calls on the public prosecutor to investigate the “allegations”.
A spokesman for Lauterbach’s ministry emphasized that the federal government generally does not comment on ongoing proceedings. In general, however, he could say: “The BMG expressly does not share the Court of Auditors’ assessment. The subcontracting of the Brinkert-Lück agency was made verbally with the framework contract agency Scholz&Friends and, from the BMG’s point of view, therefore meets the procurement and contractual requirements.” Furthermore, the impression is wrong that the oral agreement was an order worth 45 million euros. The agency’s services were estimated at 865,000 euros. “The rest is spent on posters, spots and advertisements,” explained the spokesman.
However, Pellmann emphasized: “The measures taken during the Corona period and their assessment continue to be a major topic of discussion in society. It is important for political transparency and the population’s trust in politicians and political decision-makers that the public prosecutor’s office thoroughly investigates the allegations .”