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Bavarian Premier Markus Söder called a special session of his coalition committee on Monday over allegations that Deputy Premier Hubert Aiwanger was responsible for an antisemitic flyer circulated when he was in high school.
The governing party in the southeastern German state of Bavaria is Söder’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU), while Aiwanger belongs to its junior coalition partner, the Free Voters.
The Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported on Saturday that Aiwanger had authored a leaflet circulated in the 1980s that made mocking references to the Holocaust.
Aiwanger denied the allegations, and his elder brother Helmut later claimed to be the real author of the antisemitic text.
However, the deputy premier admitted that “one or a few copies” of the leaflet were found in his school bag.
Questions in Aiwanger scandal still ‘unanswered’
“We have taken note of [Aiwanger’s] statement. But many questions remain open,” Bavarian state chancellery chief Florian Hermann, who belongs to the CSU, said. “Only Hubert Aiwanger himself can answer them.”
“We’re expecting this to happen soon. The allegations are too serious for a deputy premier to only comment in written form and leave crucial questions unanswered,” he stressed, adding that Aiwanger will need to respond “personally and comprehensively.”
Aiwanger said that he found the contents of the leaflet “disgusting and inhumane” in a written statement on Saturday evening.
“This is about Bavaria’s reputation,” Hermann said.
Bavaria is set to hold state elections in October of this year. The vice president of the state parliament, Karl Freller, called for Aiwanger to provide a “complete explanation” before the election, according to public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk.
sdi/ab (dpa, Reuters)
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