Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) warned last night that the party's future was in jeopardy after the Bundestag ordered it to pay a massive fine for breaking party funding laws and concealing illegal donations in Swiss bank accounts.
The President of the Bundestag, Mr Wolfgang Thierse, told the party to return more than DM41 million (£16 million) in state campaign support because of widespread financial irregularities under the leadership of the former chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl.
Dr Kohl has admitted receiving up to £1 million in illegal donations between 1993 and 1998 but he has refused to identify the origin of the money, claiming that he gave the donors his word of honour that they would remain anonymous.
But Mr Thierse poured scorn on the former chancellor's justification for his silence, declaring that all people are created equal before the law.
"The party financing law applies to all parties equally. Respect for the law is the basis of our democracy. There are no provisions in the law for words of honour, especially when they are in violation of the law," he said.
The fine is equivalent to half the state support the CDU receives every year and was the largest such punishment in German history. The Christian Democrats condemned the sanction as disproportionate and the party declared that it would challenge Mr Thierse's decision in the courts.
The party had been pleading for leniency on the basis that a heavy fine would make it unable to campaign properly in two state elections this year and in the next federal election in 2002. The party is already more than £10 million in debt and the scandal over illegal donations has frightened many rich donors away.
Worse still, yesterday's fine applies only to irregularities in the CDU accounts for 1998 and question marks still hang over other elements of the party's funding. This means that the party could face more fines as new information emerges.
Support for the Christian Democrats has slumped since the funding scandal broke last November and, with new revelations appearing almost every week, there is little prospect of an improvement in the party's fortune.
Dr Kohl, who has resigned as honorary chairman of the CDU but remains a member of the Bundestag, was not in parliament yesterday when Mr Thierse announced the fine.
