The scandal surrounding the illegal funding of Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) deepened yesterday when the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) threatened to pull out of a centre-right coalition in the southern state of Hesse.
The FDP leadership is believed to be united in its determination to end the coalition after Hesse's CDU Prime Minister, Mr Roland Koch, admitted lying about party accounts.
The FDP chairman, Mr Wolfgang Gerhard, met local leaders in Hesse yesterday, and a final decision on the coalition's fate is expected tomorrow.
Mr Koch admitted on Tuesday that he lied to the public last month when he claimed to have had no involvement in the use of secret Swiss bank accounts to transfer illegal funds to the CDU.
A court ruling on whether to declare last year's state election in Hesse invalid was this week postponed until March 3rd. During the campaign, the CDU organised a petition against plans by the centre-left government of the Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, to make it easier for foreign immigrants to become German citizens.
Mr Schroder's Social Democrats claim that the CDU won the election unfairly by using illegal, undeclared funds during the campaign.
The FDP has rejected an offer to join the Social Democrats and Greens in a new coalition in Hesse and it may be persuaded to remain in government with the CDU if Mr Koch resigns.
Mr Koch, who was until recently tipped as a future leader of his party, has so far resisted calls to step down, but he would almost certainly be forced to go if prosecutors started a criminal investigation against him.
The former chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, is already under criminal investigation for his role in the network of secret accounts used by the CDU to channel millions of pounds in illegal donations to the party.
Mr Schroder and his colleagues in the government are attempting to avoid too much public gloating over the fate of the opposition, but they cannot disguise their excitement at the prospect of new elections in the state.
A victory for the Social Democrats would change the balance of the parties in Germany's upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, making it easier for Mr Schroder to push through his legislative programme.
