Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) “recruited” free voters for the meeting, said head of state Florian Herrmann (CSU). “The allegations are too serious for a Deputy Prime Minister to comment only in writing and leave crucial questions unanswered,” Herrmann said Monday, addressing Deputy Prime Minister Aiwanger. Aiwanger is under pressure over an anti-Semitic pamphlet published in his school days, for which he was blamed, according to a report in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (“SZ”).
Aiwanger assured on Saturday that he “did not write” the paper that was found in his backpack and considered the content “disgusting and inhumane”. At the same time, his older brother Helmut took responsibility and explained that he had made the leaflet. On Monday, Helmut Aiwanger expressed suspicion that his brother might have collected the leaflet “to calm the escalation”. However, the coalition partner CSU sees the need for clarification – with the special session he reacts to pressure from the federal government, the opposition and the media.
picturedesk.com/dpa/Pia Bayer An old anti-Semitic leaflet is putting pressure on the head of Free Voters and deputy prime minister of Bavaria, Hubert Aiwanger
“The Case of the Aiwanger Leaflet” and “The Söder Dilemma”
The “Aiwanger leaflet case”, the “Söder dilemma” and a “witch hunt” have recently been reported in reports and commentaries in German media such as the “” (“FAZ”), the “SZ ” and the “Welt”. to read. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) demanded immediate clarification from the state government and “possibly also political consequences”, as a spokesman put it. The Bavarian opposition parties SDP, FDP and Greens had already asked for clarification. The SDP also spoke out in favor of Aiwanger’s dismissal.
“The text of a leaflet that circulated in the school of the Deputy Prime Minister of Bavaria and was created by his brother is no less reprehensible today because it disgustingly denigrates the millions of victims of the Shoah”, said the President of the Central Council, Josef Schuster, on Sunday about it. The leaflet also “should not simply be dismissed as a youthful sin, since it literally tramples on the confrontation with National Socialism, which is so important to our country”.
Flyer full of antisemitism
What was the pamphlet about? According to “SZ”, the leaflet called for participation in an alleged federal contest in which the “greatest traitor to the homeland” was sought. “Anyone who is German and is on German soil” can participate. Applicants must present themselves “at the Dachau concentration camp for an interview”.
“A free flight down the chimney of Auschwitz” was offered as the first prize. You can also win “a lifetime stay in the mass grave (location of your choice)” or “a ticket to the eternal hunting camps (place of fulfillment also the Auschwitz entertainment district and subcamps)”. The horror in Germany is great.
big assumptions
There are some unanswered questions: Was the leaflet really written by Aiwanger’s older brother? And if so: why did Aiwanger protect him for so long? “Was Aiwanger really the victim who was threatened and ‘put under pressure’ as he puts it?” TAZ wants to know. “Are we really to believe that the two brothers viewed the Holocaust so differently that one thought of the most disgusting statements and pseudo-jokes, while the other, like an honest democrat, shuddered?” asks the “Spiegel”.
In addition, the question immediately arises of the consequences for the election campaign of the State of Bavaria. What does the cause mean for the election result and for free voters in Aiwanger? Can Aiwanger remain at the head of the party? And will there be a continuation of the CSU and Free Voters coalition that was really expected?
In Bavaria, a new state parliament will be elected on 8 October – mail-in voting started on Monday. The CSU has always stated that it wanted to continue the coalition with the Free Voters after the elections. Until recently, all polls left almost no doubt that this too would be possible – with free voters recently standing at between 11% and 14% and the CSU at nearly 40%. The CSU has governed the Free State since the 2018 elections along with the Free Voters.
“It won’t hurt Aiwanger”
“This will not harm Aiwanger,” political scientist Jasmin Riedl of the Bundeswehr University in Munich told dpa. Aiwanger has “an almost sworn base of supporters”. This too would “continue to hold him.” It is even said that Aiwanger could emerge stronger from the cause because it was so long ago and some consider the accusations to be unfair.
Aiwanger last made headlines in June over controversial remarks at a rally in Erding. Among other things, he said there that the silent majority had to “take back democracy”. He was then accused of populism. Aiwanger likes to see himself as a representative of what he calls the “normal population”, of farmers and artisans. In beer tents and at other appearances, he regularly protested against the Greens and the “traffic light” government composed of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
“That’s Söder’s problem: Aiwanger can almost do whatever he wants,” said political scientist Riedl, also taking into account the coalition compromise that has actually been fixed so far. For example, Söder has repeatedly ruled out a coalition with the Greens. A pact with the SPD seems even more conceivable in an extreme emergency.
Commentators’ opinions differ
The assessment of the editor of “FAZ”, Jasper von Altenbockum, is different: “The matter could cost Aiwanger his position as Minister of Economic Affairs of Bavaria. Markus Söder would also be able to resign from the entire coalition”, he writes in a comment “Little more than a month before the elections, the damage for Aiwanger’s party would be much greater than for the prime minister, who could even count on sympathy.”
“Welt” commentator Anna Schneider again spotted a “hunt” against Aiwanger. “Finally there was bad material against one of these dissidents in German politics,” she writes. “Aiwanger doesn’t need to paint a picture of innocence in Lower Bavaria. Instead, he should explain how hate speech came about and what his role was in it,” says TAZ editor Dominik Baur.
Criticism of the “SZ” reports
Last but not least, there were also criticisms of the “SZ” reports. German journalist Stefan Niggemeier, for example, was critical. The text lacks “any distance from itself,” he writes in an article in the German online magazine Übermedien.
O @SZ emphasizes that #aiwanger “essentially” confirmed his allegations – beyond the issue with the author. But that wasn’t some silly reporting detail from him; that’s what SZ focused on – of course -! pic.twitter.com/URTqkMMAGB
-Stefan Niggemeier (@niggi) August 27, 2023
“From the first paragraph, the text is concerned with its own potential impact,” writes Niggemeier. “It’s hard not to read in him the urgent desire that this effect could occur.” According to Niggemeier, the newspaper’s message was that the research was able to stop the Aiwanger boom. The “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” (“NZZ”) accuses the “SZ” of confusing “journalism with activism”.