BERLIN, 19 July — German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, facing a general election in just two months, yesterday fired his scandal-plagued Defense Minister Rudolph Scharping following allegations he improperly accepted fees from a public relations firm. "The basis for successful cooperation in government no longer exists in my opinion," Schroeder told a press conference.
Schroeder named Peter Struck, the 59-year-old parliamentary leader of his Social Democrats (SPD) and a key ally, to replace him. Developments unfolded just nine weeks ahead of elections in the key NATO state, with Schroeder facing a strong challenge from the conservative Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber.
In what was seen as a major setback for the Social Democrats’ chances in September elections, Schroeder was forced to announce the dismissal of one of his most senior Cabinet ministers, less than 24 hours after the scandal broke. Scharping was the ninth German Cabinet minister to be dismissed since Schroeder took office.
"The necessary basis for cooperation and trust in the work of government is no longer present. I have asked the German president to dismiss the defense minister," the chancellor told journalists after breaking off a visit to the Bayreuth music festival to deal with the government crisis. Documents published by Germany’s Stern magazine yesterday alleged that Scharping had received the equivalent of $17,000 from the Hunzinger public relations firm which represents arms manufacturing companies as payment for speeches he had made.
Stern claimed that some $7,500 pounds of the cash was paid to Scharping while he was in office — in clear breach of German government law which prohibits serving ministers from accepting payments other than their salaries.
The magazine also published photographs of receipts from an expensive Frankfurt tailor’s which suggested that Hunzinger had furnished Scharping with 14, 000 pounds worth of suits, blazers and shirts. "This has infuriated the party rank and file," one Social Democrat insider admitted yesterday.
Scharping angrily dismissed the allegations. "Stern magazine’s accusations bear all the hallmarks of a campaign specifically directed against me," he told a hastily convened press conference after his dismissal was announced. "I leave office with my head held high and I will do everything to clear my name," he added.
Scharping, 54, has been defense minister since Schroeder’s government took office in October 1998 but the chancellor has been under pressure to remove him on several occasions. Earlier, Scharping had brushed aside revelations in the newspaper Die Welt that he was to be sacked over the alleged improprieties, and refused to step down.
Scharping, who suffered a tough blow in 1994 when he unsuccessfully challenged Helmut Kohl for the chancellorship, is the eighth minister to leave the SDP-led coalition government since taking office in 1998. (The Independent)
