Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) yesterday pleaded with the president of the Bundestag, Mr Wolfgang Thierse, to show mercy when he imposes a fine on the party for accepting illegal political donations.
Mr Thierse, who is due to announce the size of the fine tomorrow, has indicated that it could be as high as DM41 million (£16 million).
"Even a few hundred thousand marks would be painful for us. Whatever the Bundestag president decides, it should not lead to the financial ruin of the party," the CDU leader, Dr Wolfgang Schauble, said yesterday.
The Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, warned the Christian Democrats not to put pressure on Mr Thierse, who was obliged to make his decision strictly on the basis of the law.
"If he doesn't do that, public confidence in the law will suffer even more. It can't become normal in this country that the accused approaches the judge and says: `I'll determine the punishment, not you', " he said.
The Social Democrats' treasurer, Ms Inge Wettig Danielmeier, said that if the CDU were fined DM41 million, the party would lose about 20 per cent of its income for this year.
"That would be a tough measure but the CDU would not lose its credit-worthiness or its ability to conduct election campaigns at state level," she said.
The CDU prime minister of the southern state of Hesse, Mr Roland Koch, received the backing of his coalition partners in the Liberal Free Democrats (FDP) at the weekend, despite his admission a few days earlier that he lied about his role in the funding scandal. Local FDP leaders ignored the advice of their party superiors and voted to remain in government with Mr Koch - a decision that could damage the FDP's chances in two state elections during the coming months.
In the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, where voters will choose a new parliament on February 27th, a poor showing by the Greens could put the governing centre-left coalition in peril.
If the Greens fail to win the 5 per cent share of the vote needed to enter parliament, the FDP could hope to form a coalition with a weakened CDU or the governing Social Democrats.
FDP leaders fear that the decision by the party in Hesse to remain in government with the tainted Mr Koch could associate the Liberals in the public mind with the corruption of the CDU. Such a development would wreck the party's hopes of replacing the CDU as the natural home of conservative voters in Germany.
Reuters adds:
Britain yesterday gave a large golden cross to the city of Dresden on the 55th anniversary of the city's destruction by Allied bombers. Some 35,000 people died in huge firestorms sparked by the bombing, carried out by British and US aircraft.
The cross, an exact copy of an 18th century original, will be placed on top of the Church of Our Lady, once restoration work is completed.
