Resignations in Suspected Child Pornography Case Split Merkel’s Coalition
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Version 0 of 1. BERLIN — Italy has its chronic political turmoil, France a new chapter of presidential indiscretions, and Greece and Spain a seemingly unending stream of corruption cases. By comparison, Chancellor Angela Merkel has built a reputation for overseeing one of Europe’s most disciplined, tightly run and squeaky clean governments. So it came as a surprise last week that her inner circle, too, was afflicted by division and suspicion after the recent resignations of a prominent Social Democratic lawmaker and a conservative cabinet minister. Both men have become embroiled in a scandal related to an investigation of suspected child pornography, with the lawmaker having been named in the case and the cabinet minister having revealed privileged information about him. Coming just weeks into her third term, the affair has become a growing distraction as the chancellor tries to corral her broad coalition cabinet made up of both conservative allies and Socialist opponents. On Wednesday, lawmakers summoned several people tied to the case to try to untangle a web of events that unfolded over the past week, a day after Ms. Merkel convened leaders of the parties in her coalition for two hours of talks aimed at restoring confidence. “It is very much about trust in events and trust in the rule of law,” Ms. Merkel told a news conference before the meeting on Tuesday. “It is, of course, also about trust within the coalition, and we know that a coalition can only carry out its job when we view one another with trust.” That trust has been strained as lawmakers spent recent days mired in finger-pointing and trying to untangle who knew what and when related to the scandal. What is clear is that a Social Democratic deputy, Sebastian Edathy, announced his resignation suddenly on Feb. 7, citing health reasons. But a week later, prosecutors in Hanover made public evidence that Mr. Edathy had purchased 31 products from an online site based in Canada that sold videos and images of underage boys and that they had begun a preliminary investigation. Mr. Edathy, who had previously gained prominence and plaudits for his work in uncovering a far-right network that killed foreign-born residents, has not been charged with any crime. It remains unclear that under current German law the material qualifies as child pornography. Mr. Edathy has denied any wrongdoing. Within days of the lawmaker’s resignation, Hans-Peter Friedrich, the conservative agriculture minister, also quit, after it emerged that he had informed the leader of the Social Democrats that Mr. Edathy’s name had turned up in an investigation. The tip-off came last year when Mr. Friedrich was serving as Ms. Merkel’s interior minister. Mr. Friedrich has maintained that he behaved correctly in telling Mr. Edathy’s boss. But his own resignation has left his party, the sister party to Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats, calling for retribution. The entire scandal has left Ms. Merkel, who is known to value both loyalty and discretion, working to restore trust within the ranks of her government, the aim of the emergency meeting on Tuesday night. Afterward, some lawmakers from the governing coalition seemed appeased. But opposition politicians from outside the government — already angered that they have so little clout — said more information was still needed. Several questions remain, said Jan Korte of the Left Party. One of those involves Mr. Edathy’s work laptop, which disappeared two days after the authorities searched his apartment and an office. “The resulting damage can not be repaired with resignations,” the Stuttgarter Zeitung said in an editorial on Tuesday. It would be better, the editorial added, if everyone in the coalition would “do what voters expect of them: serve the good of the people in this country and respect the rule of the law.” |