Germany: Germany's conservative opposition moved yesterday to expel a member of their parliamentary group for anti-Jewish remarks that embarrassed the party at home and damaged Germany's reputation abroad, party officials said.
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) officials said that party leaders would take steps to oust Mr Martin Hohmann, who until recently was an obscure backbench lawmaker, from both the CDU's parliamentary group and the party.
"The executive of the CDU's parliamentary group has decided to start proceedings to expel Mr Hohmann," said Ms Maria Boehmer, deputy CDU floor leader. "I'm confident we will get the needed two-thirds majority. Hohmann failed to renounce what he said." Mr Hohmann said in a speech in October that Jews, like Germans, could be seen as a people of "perpetrators". Widely condemned in Germany, he at first refused to apologise. CDU leaders censured him last week, but came under intense pressure to sack him.
Criticising Jews is a sensitive matter in Germany, still plagued by guilt over the Holocaust carried out by the Nazis.
German Jewish groups and political leaders from all parties had condemned Mr Hohmann.
In a speech to his constituency on October 3rd, Mr Hohmann said it was mainly Bolsheviks of Jewish descent who had taken part in mass executions during the 1917 Russian revolution.
"One could with some justification describe Jews as a nation of perpetrators. That may sound frightening. But it would follow the same logic by which one describes Germans as a nation of perpetrators," said Mr Hohmann.
Resisting demands from CDU leaders to apologise or resign, Mr Hohmann at first only retracted his comments, but refused to apologise. A day later he apologised as pressure to quit grew, but he unwittingly reignited the row by showing journalists a letter of support he received from a top German general.
Brig Gen Reinhard Guenzel, commander of the elite "KSK" special forces, had praised Mr Hohmann in a letter for an excellent speech and said most Germans shared his views. Defence Minister Mr Peter Struck fired the general.
CDU leaders last week stripped Mr Hohmann of his place on a parliamentary committee on internal affairs.
The CDU will need a two-thirds majority of its deputies to expel Mr Hohmann. That should not be difficult to get, but if even 10 or 20 deputies vote against the measure, it would humiliate party leaders. - (Reuters)