Germany's Social Democrats have again stumbled into a crisis. A party arbitration committee on Thursday voted to throw SPD veteran Wolfgang Clement out of the party. But German commentators say he's a scapegoat for larger SPD woes. Wolfgang Clement has angered many in his party. Now, he may be out. Germany's Social Democrats had been hoping for peace and quiet this summer, maybe some time to lick their wounds. The party spent the first half of 2008 stumbling from crisis to crisis, and poll numbers plunged. Internal bickering landed the SPD in the headlines week after week. A tranquil summer vacation would have been the right antidote. On Thursday, though, the quiet came to a screeching halt. A party arbitration commission in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced its verdict in the case of Wolfgang Clement, a former economy minister and prominent representative of the party's conservative wing. The commission said he has shown a lack of loyalty to his party and decided to throw him out. The decision hit Berlin's political world like a bomb. An earlier commission dealing with his case had recommended a reprimand. No one in party headquarters expected him to be booted. Indeed, despite a hurried agreement to avoid comment until a higher committee could decide whether to overturn the decision, shock and frustration seeped out. None other than Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, not known to be one of Clement's strongest supporters, criticized the decision on Thursday.
Germany's Social Democrats have again stumbled into a crisis. A party arbitration committee on Thursday voted to throw SPD veteran Wolfgang Clement out of the party. But German commentators say he's a scapegoat for larger SPD woes.
Wolfgang Clement has angered many in his party. Now, he may be out. Germany's Social Democrats had been hoping for peace and quiet this summer, maybe some time to lick their wounds. The party spent the first half of 2008 stumbling from crisis to crisis, and poll numbers plunged. Internal bickering landed the SPD in the headlines week after week. A tranquil summer vacation would have been the right antidote.
On Thursday, though, the quiet came to a screeching halt. A party arbitration commission in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia announced its verdict in the case of Wolfgang Clement, a former economy minister and prominent representative of the party's conservative wing. The commission said he has shown a lack of loyalty to his party and decided to throw him out.
The decision hit Berlin's political world like a bomb. An earlier commission dealing with his case had recommended a reprimand. No one in party headquarters expected him to be booted. Indeed, despite a hurried agreement to avoid comment until a higher committee could decide whether to overturn the decision, shock and frustration seeped out. None other than Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, not known to be one of Clement's strongest supporters, criticized the decision on Thursday.
The SPIEGEL is really over the top in its reporting, though.
Same goes for its reporting on the 'grand coalition' government: every week brings a new crisis, or new movement towards greater crisis, based largely on anonymous sources. It's a stupifying miracle that the coalition hasn't yet fallen... if you'd go by the week to week reporting of the SPIEGEL.
That said, they did have a few credible scoops, so it's not reporting you can completely dismiss either.
