German president quits amid scandal

GERMAN CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel has vowed to find a consensus German head of state to limit the political fallout from losing her second president in as many years yesterday.

President Christian Wulff resigned after just 18 months in office and before his immunity was lifted to allow an investigation into allegations he accepted improper favours as state premier in local Saxony.

Following three months of claims that he accepted low-interest loans and free holidays, the prospect of the first inquiry into a sitting president made Mr Wulff’s position untenable.

Chancellor Merkel postponed a trip to Italy to begin the hunt for his successor. With the Greek bailout drama reaching end-game, opinion in Berlin is divided over whether the search would be a tiresome or welcome distraction for the German leader and public.

Mr Wulff said in his resignation speech he had “made mistakes but had always been honest” and acted “legally correctly”. However, he conceded that questions dating from his political past in Lower Saxony had undermined his moral standing as head of state.

“The developments of the past days and weeks have shown that this trust and thus my ability to function have left lasting damage,” he said in Bellevue Palace, the president’s official residence, flanked by his second wife, Bettina.

His road to resignation began in December when it emerged he had been economical with the truth over a low-interest €500,000 loan from a wealthy friend to buy a new family home. In a television interview to discuss the claims – another first for a president – Mr Wulff insisted he had done nothing wrong.

But a relentless drip of allegations since then, all involving free holidays or other perks, came from individuals with whom Mr Wulff had political links during his time as Lower Saxon state governor.

"We wanted a head of state and, instead, got a discount king," noted Der Spiegelnews weekly.

Two years ago former president Horst Köhler resigned in protest at a campaign of media criticism and what he perceived as a lack of political support from the chancellery. Anxious not to make the same mistake twice, Dr Merkel issued regular statements of support for Mr Wulff. But on his departure she said she “regretted but respected” his decision to go.

German presidents have a largely ceremonial function and are chosen by a special electoral college of sitting MPs and regional representatives.

Dr Merkel, hunting for a Köhler replacement in 2010, declined to back the popular figure of Joachim Gauck, a moral presence in German public life since his days as an East German pastor and civil rights campaigner.

Instead she nominated Mr Wulff, sidelining a political ally and one-time rival – a decision that has now come back to haunt her.

His presidency began with a bad omen when strong cross-party support for Mr Gauck meant Mr Wulff was only elected on the third count.

Merkel allies suggest she is unlikely to consider Mr Gauck again, with two other names doing the rounds. The first is Norbert Lammert, a respected Christian Democrat figure and Bundestag president.

But Dr Merkel may go for a more daring choice in Frank Walter Steinmeier, foreign minister in her grand coalition and now parliamentary leader of the opposition Social Democrats.

Nominating Mr Steinmeier, a popular political figure, has a double attraction for Dr Merkel. It would at once silence critics in Germany’s largest opposition party and remove a potential rival in next year’s general election.

With just a month to act, the German leader knows she must choose quickly and wisely to avoid serious political blowback.