Schröder Sacks Defense Minister

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has sacked his Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping.

Schröder announced that the Social Democrats parliamentary party leader, Peter Struck, would replace him. This was after an emergency meeting that Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called on Thursday afternoon. Scharping had become the subject of allegations concerning his dealings with a public relations consultant, who also has clients in the arms industry.

It has been alleged the relationship may have involved a conflict of interest. Reports in the media revealed that Scharping had received 71,600 euro ($72,000) from Moritz Hunzinger, a public relations consultant in Frankfurt, for lectures and book rights just before he became defense minister. Scharping, however, denied any wrongdoing, saying the fees were from the time before he was defense minister, although the money entered his bank account after his posting.

"Arbitrary assertions in the media are no reason for a resignation," Scharping told Reuters. "All payments were reported to the tax authorities and taxed. Large parts of the claims against me are false and deliberately defamatory."

The Final Straw

But this scandal turned out to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Scharping, 54, had been dogged by several high-profile scandals over the past year. His troubles really began with a photo spread he allowed a magazine to print of him frolicking in a swimming pool in Spain with his new fiancée, just as German troops were preparing for a dangerous mission in Macedonia.

"Randy Rudi," as he was dubbed, was ridiculed for "making love, not war" and the headlines were full of derision for the hapless minister. But when it was revealed that he had also used a military plane for quick visits to his fiancée, the scandal took on a more serious tone.

Scharping was called before a special parliamentary committee to answer for the flights and his future in office appeared to be in jeopardy. But the next day two jets plowed into the World Trade Center and the political landscape changed.

The reprieve didn’t last long, however, and by the end of the year the minister was back in the headlines when he made statements interpreted as predicting a US attack on Somalia. At that point, the message coming out of his own party was: "one more mistake, and he’s out."

In February, the chairman of the German Armed Forces Association, Bernhard Gertz, said Scharping had become a "joke figure" with declining authority that was "fatal for the armed forces." Those sentiments were thought to be shared by many of the nation’s soldiers.

Add to that a new scandal with allegations of conflict of interest, using public office for personal gain, and spending 28,000 euro ($28,170) on luxury clothes, and Rudolph Scharping had become too big of a liability for Chancellor Schröder, who has an election in two months and flagging poll numbers to worry about.

"The necessary preconditions for working together are no longer given," Schröder said in an impromptu news conference on Thursday afternoon.

Defiant to the End

Refusing to be put off by the mounting allegations, Scharping had stuck to his schedule on Thursday morning, visiting a military installation in the state of Lower Saxony. While Scharping watched the presentation, the allegations raised against him in Berlin were turning into a full-blown scandal.

The allegations surround payments Scharping received from public relations executive Moritz Hunzinger. Half of the 72,000 euro was the rights to his unpublished memoirs, and the other half was reportedly for lectures he held before being appointed as Germany's defense minister.

Scharping confirmed that he had received payments in the past, but said all were taxed and proceeds used mostly more charitable activities. He denied that he had been the recipient of reward for contacts with the defense ministry.

"I have done everything in line with the law," Scharping said. "Therefore I don’t see any grounds to resign."

As allegations flew, Hunzinger defended Scharping. "He is a very noble individual who is in no way at fault, particularly not on this point," he said.

But in the end, the government decided Scharping had to go and Schröder tapped Social Democratic parliamentary floor leader Peter Struck to step in as defense minister, Never before in Germany has there been a change in a ministerial post been so close to an election. German voters go the polls on September 22.

Damage to the Party

The Scharping case is just one more bit of bad news for Schröder, who has watched his already floundering Social Democratic party dogged down further with corruption scandals involving undeclared party donations.

The opposition is hoping to make political hay of the sacking. Edmund Stoiber, the conservative Union block’s candidate for chancellor said Scharping’s dismissal was "long overdue" and would be a relief for Germany’s troops. Guido Westerwelle, head of the Free Democrats, described the current governing coalition as "staggering to the elections like a pummeled boxer just before the final knockout."