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Angela Merkel was trying to avoid a widespread crisis in her coalition over the weekend, as party leaders continued to quarrel over the fate of the head of the German intelligence service.
The Chancellor and leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union was later to meet Sunday with the leaders of the Social Democratic SPD and the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian brotherhood party of the CDU.
Speaking before the meeting, SPD leader Andrea Nahles told Bild newspaper that she was not expecting the government to collapse following the withdrawal of the chief of police. Spying Hans-Georg Maassen from his post last Tuesday. The case has dominated the political debate in Berlin over the last two weeks and has highlighted the fragility of the coalition. But she added, "The basis of our cooperation must be mutual trust and reliability. If this is no longer the case, the government will fail.
Mr Maassen, chairman of the office for the protection of the constitution (BfV), was dismissed after making a series of criticized remarks as mingling with politics and downplaying the threat of right-wing extremism.
The decision to oust him came in response to requests from the SPD, the coalition's junior partner, but was approved by Merkel and Horst Seehofer, the interior minister and head of the CSU. Seehofer, who has clashed several times with the Chancellor in recent months over asylum and refugee protection, was the main casualty, saying that the spy leader had nothing to do with it. hurt.
As part of the agreement and in order to appease Mr Seehofer, Mr Maassen was supposed to hold the position of senior official of the Ministry of the Interior – a less exposed but formally more important post than the one he currently occupies. While the details of the deal, which included a significant pay increase, became clear, the government had to deal with anger from the voters and party members.
Ms Nahles, in particular, has been under heavy pressure from other social democrats, many of whom have expressed concern that ordinary voters would not understand why a problematic official was not fired but promoted.
On Friday, the SPD leader sent a letter to his counterparts in the coalition asking for renegotiation. "The uniformly negative response from the population showed that we made a mistake. Instead of restoring confidence, we lost it.
Merkel and Seehofer said they were ready for a new round of talks, although the interior minister has made it clear that he would not accept any deal that would leave the head of the spies jobless. "I do not understand why the SPD launched a campaign against Mr. Maassen. That's why I will not send it back, "Mr Seehofer told Bild on Sunday.
This coalition statement was triggered by remarks made by the chief intelligence officer following the recent far-right demonstrations in the city of Chemnitz, in eastern Germany. The demonstrations were intended to mark the murder of a young German, allegedly by two asylum seekers from Iraq and Syria, but which has turned into popular violence. and in manifest manifestations of neo-Nazi sentiments.
German politicians condemned the murder and the violence that followed, but Maassen made it clear that he thought the political and media response to the latter was exaggerated. There was no "hunt" of foreigners in Chemnitz, he said in an interview, in direct contradiction to Ms. Merkel, who has already used this expression. Mr. Maassen also disputed the veracity of a widely circulated video showing a group of local protesters running after and attacking two foreigners. He admitted later that the video was authentic.
Mr Maassen's remarks – a well-known critic of the Chancellor's refugee policy – have been perceived by critics as further evidence that the BfV was neglecting the fight against right-wing extremism. Left-wing politicians, in particular, have for a long time been carrying this accusation and have underlined the refusal of Mr. Maassen to place the Extreme Right Alternative under the control of Germany.
Recent polls suggest that the CDU / CSU and the SPD all lose their support among voters. A survey released Friday revealed that Merkel's conservative alliance was only 28% – up from 33% last year – and the SPD at 17%, up from 21% last year.
