In Germany, an anti-Semitic leaflet upsets the Bavarian electoral campaign

2023-08-29 16:31:28

Markus Söder has a problem. Six weeks before the regional elections, the Minister-President of Bavaria, head of the Christian Social Union (CSU) must manage an unexpected crisis. His economy minister, Hubert Aiwanger, leader of the Free Voters party (Freie Wähler) with whom he has governed since 2018, is suspected of anti-Semitism. The accusation is serious in a country at the origin of the Holocaust and where, as the President of the Bavarian Parliament declared this week, “What you think of National Socialism and the Holocaust is a litmus test for any democrat”.

Tract of clothes

The case dates back to the 1987-1988 school year. According to the daily Southgerman newspaper, anti-Semitic leaflets were discovered at the time in the schoolbag of Hubert Aiwanger, then a first-grade student. According to anonymous sources, this high school student would have himself written this text calling for a “national competition” to find the “best traitor to the fatherland”. The reward : “a free flight through the chimneys of Auschwitz”. The discovery of this leaflet would have earned him a « sanction » from high school.

Thirty-seven years later, the person concerned denies having written this leaflet but agrees “having had a few copies”, without remembering if he distributed them or not. Authorship of the text “repulsive” et “inhuman” would go to his brother, as the latter has confessed.

This affair obviously weakens the Freie Wähler in the front line, which have become a central part of Bavarian politics. “It is a very active party at regional and municipal level which sees itself as a competitor of the CSU even if, in substance, these two formations are not very different”notes political scientist Tilman Mayer. “Lately, Hubert Aiwanger has taken on more populist tones to attract AfD voters (far right party, editor’s note) but with one notable difference: Aiwanger is not radical and is not in the sights of the intelligence services”notes this political scientist.

Electoral consequences

Could this case of leaflets change the situation in this area? The question is valid. Even Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacted by recalling that“There is no place for anti-Semites in politics”. For the Minister-President of Bavaria, the social Christian Markus Söder, this affair comes in any case at a very bad time, when he is putting his mandate back on the line. This Tuesday, he therefore summoned Hubert Aiwanger to a crisis meeting and provided him with a list of 25 questions to answer ” very quickly “. “There are a lot of contradictory statements”he noted, regretting “the damage caused to the image of Bavaria”.

The electoral consequences could be significant for the CSU, certainly credited with 38% of voting intentions for the October 8 election but which will certainly be forced to find a coalition partner. A defeat of the Free Electors could force him to turn to environmentalists. A nightmare for Markus Söder who has made the Greens his main political opponents.