" Conservative Upheaval: Bavarian Governor Beckstein Quits - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International



Tuesday, 10/28/2008

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10/01/2008
 

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CONSERVATIVE UPHEAVAL

Bavarian Governor Beckstein Quits

The governor of Bavaria, Günther Beckstein, announced his resignation on Wednesday due to his party's poor showing in state elections on Sunday. His departure comes on the heels of news that Christian Social Union head Erwin Huber will step down too.

DPA

Bavarian Governor Günther Beckstein resigned on Wednesday.

Just one day after Erwin Huber, the head of the Bavarian conservatives, resigned following less than satisfactory state election results on Sunday, Governor Günther Beckstein has followed suit. Citing a lack of support from his party, the Christian Social Union -- the Bavarian sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats -- Beckstein said he could no longer fulfil the duties of his office.

""The trust of the voters was unfortunately much lower than I had expected, we saw that last Sunday,"" Beckstein said in a brief statement to reporters. ""After the painful election defeat from Sunday, I have felt that my support in the party is not sufficient to address the difficult tasks that face us.""

The painful ""defeat"" Beckstein referred to was his party's 43.4 percent showing, far lower than the absolute majority the CSU has enjoyed since 1962 and fully 17.3 percentage points lower than the party's result in the last state election in 2003. Party leaders had hoped that Huber's resignation on Tuesday would quiet criticism from the CSU grassroots, but a number of regional chapters continued calling for Beckstein's ouster.

Party leaders have agreed that Horst Seehofer, currently Germany's agriculture minister, will take over for Huber and Seehofer has said he would make himself available to inherit Beckstein's position as well. Others, however, have likewise voiced an interest in the job. Party leaders said on Wednesday that the CSU will decide on Beckstein's successor in the next two weeks.

NEWSLETTER

The leadership shuffle is the second such power struggle within the party in as many years. Early in 2007, many in the party began voicing increasing dissatisfaction with the leadership of Edmund Stoiber, who had been Bavarian governor since 1993. Stoiber didn't help himself by getting caught prying into the personal life of one of his primary critics, Gabrielle Pauli, looking for dirt that could be used to discredit her. He grew increasingly bitter when news leaked out that Huber and Beckstein had come to a backroom agreement to succeed Stoiber. Seehofer at the time ran against Huber for the party leadership position, but his campaign was torpedoed by news that his mistress in Berlin had just given birth to his illegitimate child.

This year's transfer of power promises to be less salacious, but Stoiber reportedly had been pulling strings in the background to ensure that Beckstein was not allowed to continue.

The CSU's showing could be a bad omen for Merkel, who will be up for re-election next autumn. Some in the CSU have said that Merkel's CDU is partially to blame for the CSU's poor showing on Sunday, though her party continues to be well ahead of the struggling Social Democrats (SPD) in political polls. Should the SPD recover, however, Merkel may have to depend on a strong CSU showing in Bavaria for her re-election. Her victory margin in 2005 was razor thin -- and had the CSU performed as it did on Sunday, Merkel would still be on the outside looking in.

cgh -- with wire reports



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