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More woes for Merkel as president steps down in Afghan row
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 31 - 05 - 2010


German Chancellor Angela Merkel was dealt
a further blow today, as President Horst Koehler unexpectedly
resigned after coming under attack for comments he made about
Germany's military role in Afghanistan, according to dpa.
After visiting the region earlier this month, Koehler appeared to
suggest in a radio interview that the German military was stationed
in Afghanistan in part to defend economic interests.
The remarks exposed the president to fierce criticism and
rekindled a debate in Germany, where the majority opposes the
military mission to Afghanistan.
Koehler sought to back-pedal last week, and a spokesman said his
comments had not been about Afghanistan in particular.
Crucially, however, German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not
publicly come out to voice her support for the president as he came
under fire.
The president only informed Merkel and her junior coalition
partner Guido Westerwelle by telephone earlier in the day of his
decision to resign, seen by many as an exaggerated response to his
critics.
Both leaders said they had tried unsuccessfully to change his
mind.
"I regret this resignation to the utmost," Merkel said. "I think
the people in Germany will be very upset at the resignation, as Horst
Koehler was a president of the people, of the citizens of Germany."
Koehler's resignation increases the problems facing Merkel's
fractious and unpopular centre-right coalition government, wrangling
with unprecedented national debt and testing times for Europe's
common euro currency, as well as international criticism for not
priming the economic pump.
Merkel went on to praise the former head of the International
Monetary Fund for his international experience and advice, especially
during the financial and economic crisis.
The chancellor also defended her decision not to speak out in
support of Koehler during the previous week.
"I spoke to the president frequently about the fact that respect
for our constitutional institutions means we do not comment upon one
another," Merkel said.
This is the first time in German postwar history that a president
has resigned. The speaker of Germany's upper house of parliament,
Jens Boehrnsen, is to fill the post until a successor is chosen.


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