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A former Bavarian justice minister has become the latest German conservative politician to quit amid allegations of corruption.
On Sunday, Alfred Sauter — a lawmaker in the regional parliament and a senior member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) — resigned from all political positions he holds.
Prosecutors are investigating Sauter as part of a probe into suspected bribery related to the procurement of coronavirus face masks. He has also suspended his membership of the CSU’s Bavarian parliamentary group for the duration of the proceedings.
German media reported this week that Sauter, a lawyer by profession, received as much as €1.2 million for helping to arrange procurement contracts. He denies any wrongdoing and said that any profits had been intended for charitable purposes from the start.
Sauter’s resignation comes amid a wider scandal over alleged corruption and side jobs that has shaken up the CDU/CSU alliance just six months before Germany heads to the polls in a nationwide election. Merkel’s party already suffered two significant losses in regional elections this month and has slipped in opinion polls.
In the same procurement probe, prosecutors are also investigating former CDU/CSU parliamentary deputy leader Georg Nüßlein, who subsequently resigned from the CSU. He denies allegations of corruption and bribery.
Another CSU lawmaker, Tobias Zech, quit over allegations of conflict, having reportedly lobbied for a former prime minister of North Macedonia; CDU lawmaker Nikolas Löbel, who admitted his company had earned €250,000 for brokering contracts for face masks, will leave the Bundestag in August; and Mark Hauptmann, another CDU lawmaker, stepped down over alleged payments from Azerbaijan, though he denies wrongdoing.
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