Germany’s CDU under fire over nomination of controversial ex-spy chief

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats (CDU) were left reeling on Saturday after a branch of the party backed a controversial former intelligence chief to run in this year’s parliamentary election.

Hans-Georg Maassen, the former head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service (BfV), won the backing of party members in the region of southern Thuringia on Friday.

Some 86% of party members in the small region voted in favor of Maassen becoming the party’s directly-elected candidate on the ballot on Friday.

The move means he has a shot at entering Germany’s parliament during the upcoming general election in September.

Why is the nomination controversial?

In November 2018, Maassen was fired from his post at the head of the BfV following allegations of having sympathies with the far-right, and in particular their anti-immigration views.

The agency he headed is in charge of monitoring and investigating political extremist groups — including antifa, neo-Nazi groups and Islamist extremist groups in the country.

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  Shadowy figure

  Hans-Georg Maassen, the former head of Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) — the domestic intelligence service — has often drawn fire for his remarks and actions. Calls for him to step down have been a constant throughout his long career.

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  Trouble in the Interior Ministry

  Maassen gained notoriety in 2002 while working for the German Interior Ministry and arguing that Murat Kurnaz, a German resident held in the US prison at Guantanamo for five years before being released, could not return to Germany because his residency had lapsed. Herta Däubler-Gmelin, who was justice minister at the time, called Maassen’s argument, “false, appalling and inhumane.”

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  Vows to restore trust

  In 2012, Maassen was tapped to lead Germany’s top spy agency. He promised to restore faith in the BfV, which was embroiled in controversy over its entanglement in the right-wing extremist scene and his predecessor’s decision to destroy files related to the neo-Nazi NSU murders.

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  First calls for firing

  Maassen has been accused of having “a troubled relationship with basic democratic principles” for his pursuit of bloggers on grounds of treason and trying to suppress negative stories on the BfV. In January 2017, he told parliament reports the BfV had undercover agents in the Islamist scene connected to the Berlin Christmas market attack were false. Records showing it did became public in 2018.

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  Sympathies for the right?

  Before Maassen made headlines by questioning the veracity of videos of right-wing protesters chasing foreigners through the streets of Chemnitz, he was under fire for advising right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) on how to avoid scrutiny from his agency. He has also been accused of sharing confidential documents with the AfD before presenting them to the public.

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  One faithful friend …

  Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (r.) continued to support Maassen even after his controversial remarks over Chemnitz. Seehofer even took the ex-spy chief into the Interior Ministry in what was essentially a promotion. But that compromise has not been seen favorably by many in Germany, and failed to calm troubled waters within the ruling coalition over the affair.

• Hans-Georg Maassen: A controversial career

  … but not forever

  But following controversial remarks made by Maassen in a farewell speech, in which he attacked the ruling coalition for “weak” policies on refugees and security, even having friends in high places seems not to be enough. Maassen still has those who take his part, however: The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany party says it would welcome him with open arms.

  Author: Jon Shelton

At the time of his removal, he cast doubt on videos that showed people with immigrant backgrounds being chased down in Chemnitz. At the time, far-right extremists were holding anti-immigration protests in the city.

Since being removed from his post, Maassen has become a prominent conservative voice on social media. In 2019, he gave an interview where he suggested a coalition with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was an option for the CDU in the future.

He’s remained a member of the CDU and active within the party’s more conservative wing, despite discussions of removing him from the party altogether.

What has the reaction been?

The nomination has sent shockwaves through the party, with senior CDU members voicing strong opposition to the decision.

Paul Ziemiak, the CDU General Secretary, said the party draws a clear line

“From every candidate, I expect a clear commitment to the values and policies of the CDU as well as a clear differentiation to the AfD,” Ziemiak told the newspapers of the Redaktionsnetzwerk Germany.

“Hans-Georg Maassen is a marginal actor on the democratic spectrum, with whom most Christian Democrats have little in common,” Karin Prien, a member of the CDU’s national board, told the Funke Media Group.

One of the harshest critiques came from Serap Güler, a CDU politician and integration official in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

“How can anyone be so unreasonable and throw the Christian Democratic values overboard? Anyone who is that afraid of the AfD has long since given them up,” she wrote on Twitter, adding that the vote was “a bitter day.”

With only a few months left until the September 26 election, the CDU hoping to garner enough support to keep the chancellor seat after Merkel steps down.

rs/sms (dpa, AFP)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-s-cdu-under-fire-over-nomination-of-controversial-ex-spy-chief/a-57400322?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf