"Too spongy, too weak": Markus Söder and his CSU are pushing for a committee of inquiry in the Graichen case.
Munich – Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and his State Secretary Patrick Graichen continue to be in focus. The public prosecutor's office is not investigating Graichen. There was no initial suspicion, said a spokesman for the Berlin Prosecutor General's Office of the Welt am Sonntag. However, Markus Söder and the CSU see a need for clarification. They are calling for a committee of inquiry in the Bundestag.
"We are pretty much in agreement that in the end the Graichen case will have to be dealt with in a committee of inquiry," Markus Söder said on Monday (May 15, 2023) after a CSU board meeting in Munich. "Too wide, too deep, too close, too unclear the interdependencies."
Söder criticizes Habeck's reappraisal of the Graichen affair as "too spongy"
Habeck and Graichen had already faced questions from members of parliament in the Bundestag last week. However, the survey by the Committees on Economic Affairs and Climate Protection and Energy was not public. After that, Habeck had declared that he was sticking to Graichen. However, an examination under civil service law is underway. The guidelines of the Ministry of Economics had been "visibly violated".
However, this is not enough for Markus Söder. "The information and announcements so far have simply been too vague, too weak, too little detailed." That is why, even in the face of ever new allegations, a committee of inquiry is now needed. The whole "green moorland" must be examined, said the CSU chief. Previously, Söder had repeatedly called for Graichen's resignation and dismissal.
CSU wants to shed light on Habeck's Ministry of Economics with investigative committee
The Union has been threatening to set up a committee of inquiry for some time. Such a body would be an "appropriate means" should the open questions in the committee meeting not be adequately answered, CDU chairman Friedrich Merz had said before the question and answer session last week.
The affair of Patrick Graichen in Habeck's Ministry of Economics should be clarified in a committee of inquiry, demands Markus Söder after a CSU board meeting in Munich. © Peter Kneffel/dpa
Robert Habeck and Patrick Graichen are criticized for the selection of a new managing director for the German Energy Agency, which belongs to the federal government. Graichen was involved in this as State Secretary in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. His best man Michael Schäfer was chosen. Habeck and Graichen now describe the process as a mistake. The procedure is to be reopened.
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Habeck's state secretary defends himself against accusations
However, Schäfer's selection is not the only case of personal ties in Habeck's Ministry of Economics that has caused criticism. Graichen's sister is married to Michael Kellner (Greens). He is also state secretary in the Habeck household. She works at the Oeko-Institut – a research institution that also receives contracts from the federal government. However, the ministry clarified that Kellner and Graichen had not been involved in tenders for which the Oeko-Institut could have applied.
Kellner himself calls for differentiation: "Mixing everything with everything else and thus harming people personally, that's not possible and I refuse to do that." Kellner referred to the criticism that his wife was also on the hydrogen council. "My wife was appointed to the Hydrogen Council by Economics Minister Peter Altmaier (CDU), so that has nothing to do with the current house management," said the state secretary. She was called because she knew her stuff. (ms/dpa/afp
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