Green Chancellor candidate Annalena Baerbock (40) stirs up the election campaign in Germany. Dossier-fest, ambitious and young: after 16 years Angela Merkel – eight of them “GroKo” (grand coalition between CDU and SPD) – stands for new beginnings and renewal.
Between CDU candidate Armin Laschet (60) and SPD candidate Olaf Scholz (62), Baerbock stands out. At the beginning of May, the Greens were even ahead of the top dog, the CDU, in polls; The magazine Stern View recently had the headline “Refreshingly different” – together with Baerbock’s photo, the magazine cover looked like an election poster. Allegations concerning the graduation of the political scientist and international lawyer turned out to be baseless.
But now Baerbock’s clean image is getting the first cracks.
As the “Spiegel” reported on Wednesday, Baerbock, who has been a member of parliament for more than seven years, has not reported ancillary income from the years 2018 to 2020 to the Bundestag administration for a long time. In total, it is about 25,220 euros (27,700 francs), which she received from her party as the Greens chairman: for Christmas, because of Corona, for successful election campaigns.
Late registration took place late – and at a racy time
Actually, additional income must be reported within three months. Baerbock, however, only reported the equivalent of around 27,700 francs in March 2021, “after she and the party’s federal office had noticed that this had inadvertently not happened”.
The sloppiness is savory for two reasons. For one thing, there is the time. The late registration takes place just as the mask affair is exposed – several members of the CDU and CSU have earned a golden nose in the corona pandemic with unreported ancillary business.
On the other hand, because the Greens always stand up for transparency and criticize other parties most sharply when they violate the rules. The case is unlikely to have any legal consequences, after all, Baerbock reported voluntarily. Politically, however, the affair is delicate.
Is Baerbock doing like Martin Schulz?
Even before this announcement, she had two problems: the possible exclusion of Tübingen’s green mayor Boris Palmer (48) and the first technical mistake – so she praised the Social Democrats for the invention of the social market economy. In fact, it goes back to the CDU.
So now the post-registered additional income. The situation is reminiscent of SPD chancellor candidate Martin Schulz (65), who was also ahead in the 2017 election campaign in the spring. But after the hype came the disillusionment. The “Schulz train” left well before the federal election in September.