German minister resigns in blow to new Merkel government
BERLIN Fri Feb 14, 2014 9:52pm GMT
Germany's Agriculture Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich announces his resignation in Berlin February 14, 2014.
Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz
(Reuters)
- A senior German minister resigned on Friday amid accusations he
leaked confidential information about a fellow lawmaker suspected of
possessing child pornography, dealing a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel
and her two-month old government.
The resignation of Agriculture
Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, the latest in a series of cabinet
departures under Merkel, could aggravate tensions in Berlin's new "grand
coalition" at a time when it is trying to push through complex reforms
of pensions and renewable energy.
"The pressure on me has grown so
much in the last couple of hours that I no longer think I can do the
job in the agriculture ministry with the required concentration, calm
and political support," Friedrich told a hastily-called news conference.
Merkel
said she had accepted Friedrich's resignation "with great respect and
great regret", adding that it was too early to discuss who would succeed
him.
The resignation follows questions about whether Friedrich, a
member of Merkel's Bavarian sister party, inappropriately passed on
confidential information about a looming investigation into a prominent
Social Democrat (SPD) lawmaker to the leader of the
SPD.
Read More Here
.....
UPDATE 4-German minister resigns in blow to new Merkel government
Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:46pm EST
* Merkel cabinet minister gave SPD advance warning of probe
* SPD lawmaker Edathy has denied child porn allegations
* Departure could aggravate tensions in coalition (Adds comments from Gabriel)
By
Erik Kirschbaum
BERLIN,
Feb 14 (Reuters) - A senior German minister resigned on Friday amid
accusations he leaked confidential information about a fellow lawmaker
suspected of possessing child pornography, dealing a blow to Chancellor
Angela Merkel and her two-month old government.
The resignation of
Agriculture Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich, the latest in a series of
cabinet departures under Merkel, could aggravate tensions in Berlin's
new "grand coalition" at a time when it is trying to push through
complex reforms of pensions and renewable energy.
"The pressure on
me has grown so much in the last couple of hours that I no longer think
I can do the job in the agriculture ministry with the required
concentration, calm and political support," Friedrich told a
hastily-called news conference.
Merkel said she had accepted
Friedrich's resignation "with great respect and great regret", adding
that it was too early to discuss who would succeed him.
The
resignation follows questions about whether Friedrich, a member of
Merkel's Bavarian sister party, inappropriately passed on confidential
information about a looming investigation into a prominent Social
Democrat (SPD) lawmaker to the leader of the SPD.
Friedrich was interior minister in the previous centre-right government at the time.
It
emerged this week that the SPD lawmaker, Sebastian Edathy, is being
investigated by prosecutors, who suspect him of possessing child
pornography, an accusation Edathy has vigorously denied.
The 44-year-old Edathy, well known in
Germany
for leading a 2012-13 inquiry into neo-Nazi killings, resigned from
parliament last week, citing health reasons, and has threatened to sue
the newspaper that first reported about the child porn suspicions
earlier this week.
WHO TIPPED OFF EDATHY?
What started as a
small domestic affair erupted into a major political scandal on Thursday
when it emerged that Friedrich had informed SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel
in October that Edathy could become the target of an investigation.
Read More Here
.....
Child-porn scandal unleashes tensions in Merkel coalition
Photo: EPA
German
Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing mounting tensions in her
two-month-old coalition, with members of the government trading
accusations Sunday over their role in a scandal sparked by child-porn
allegations involving a parliamentarian.
Agriculture
Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich resigned Friday following revelations that
as interior minister in Merkel's last government, he leaked
confidential police information about a child-porn probe concerning a
Social Democratic (SPD) member of parliament.
Friedrich's party,
the conservative Bavarian-based Christian Social Union (CSU), stepped up
pressure on the SPD Sunday, claiming the SPD's public revelation of
Friedrich's actions represented a breach of the trust needed between
coalition partners.
The CSU is the associate party of Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
Friedrich
confidentially told SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel about the child-porn
inquiry last October, just as Merkel was negotiating to form a coalition
with the SPD.
The SPD leadership is now under pressure to prove
in public that it maintained secrecy around the tip-off that the
lawmaker, Sebastian Edathy, was under suspicion of purchasing child
pornography.
In a newspaper interview, SPD parliamentary
faction leader Thomas Oppermann defended his decision to contact the
head of Germany's BKA federal police to check out the information
provided by Friedrich.
Oppermann told the weekly Bild am Sonntag
that it was part of his job to look after a parliamentarian facing
"difficulties." He said his purpose in phoning BKA chief Joerg Ziercke
at the time was to assess the significance of the claims against Edathy.
Read More Here
.....
