The CDU and CSU threaten a storm like in the Kohl era.
Members of the Bundestag of the Union should provide information about possible financial benefits.
How big can the damage be?
Munich - There is still a lot of correspondence with the CDU and CSU.
On Wednesday morning, a new letter made the rounds in the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, as on Monday it came from parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus and CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt.
The debate about personal advantages, which at least two members of the Bundestag of the Union searched for (and found) in the procurement of protective equipment in the pandemic, is shaking the parties with undiminished force.
The parliamentary group now wants to get an overview of how great the damage can be in the worst case as soon as possible.
CSU and CDU are providing information - who has gotten financial advantages?
This time, too, there is no lack of clarity, as in the most recent letter, which appealed to “attitude, decency and integrity”.
The crucial points are bold.
The first is the date.
By Friday evening, all group members are to make a statement that they have not made any personal profit in connection with pandemic-related deals.
The self-assessment must relate to 2020 and 2021 and take into account all transactions that were carried out “directly or through companies”.
This refers to the purchase or sale of medical products, protective equipment, testing and vaccination requirements and the mediation of contacts.
Very important and also printed in bold: You should clearly state that you have achieved “no financial advantages”.
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Aside from the fight against Corona, the Union is struggling with a debate about personal benefits.
© Joerg Boethling / imago-images
The CSU had started a similar survey in the state parliament.
On Wednesday, parliamentary group leader Thomas Kreuzer announced that no MPs reportedly received commissions or remuneration.
The MP Alfred Sauter, who, as a lawyer, set up one of the mask contracts for a fee, should now name the sum and details.
Corona masks scandal: Union wants to know what further adversity is threatening
The time for the members of the Bundestag is short.
Friday at 6 p.m., that's exactly two days before the polling stations in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate close.
The damage that the affair around MPs Nikolas Löbel (CDU) and Georg Nüßlein (CSU) has caused is already devastating.
With their letter, Brinkhaus and Dobrindt are trying both to internally gain an overview of what further adversity the Union could face and to convey to the outside world that they are trying to clear up the matter.
Even if the facts that are supposed to come on the table could be uncomfortable.
CDU and CSU under pressure to act - memories of the donation affair under Kohl are awakened
In the event that “this declaration cannot be made”, a member of parliament should contact one of the parliamentary managing directors directly.
That would be the scenario which the Union fears most, but which it does not dare to rule out.
Even now, some think they have been transported back into gloomy times.
Vice-parliamentary group leader Gitta Connemann (CDU) complained in the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" that it was "in the worst crisis since the donation affair".
It boiled up at the end of 1999 and ultimately cost Helmut Kohl his honorary chairmanship of the CDU.
Trying to vote in these circumstances is especially ungrateful.
Christian Baldauf, the top candidate in Rhineland-Palatinate, complained in the "Rheinische Post" about the damage that the affair caused to the election campaigners: "It's not a tailwind - no one needs such an affair on the last few meters."
(Patrick Freiwah)
List of rubric lists: © Joerg Boethling / imago-images
