Payoffs Greased Looting of East German Industry

[Johannes Schneider]

Nathan Newman wrote:
>
> Little comment so far on this list about the financial payoff scandal
> engulfing the German Christian Democrats and former Chancellor Kohl.  The
> story moved from secret party slush funds to payoffs to encourage the
> government to sell off East German firms to foreign investors.
>
Basically the story is not new. There have been reports during the time Kohl
was chancellor, but now this story is resurfacing again. It could well be
that the whole story is a sort of campaign by younger CDU politicians to get
rid of Kohl and the present CDU leadership.
But anyway, in recent weeks the political climate in Germany has changed
completely. Today the CDU is in defensive and the present CDU leadership
around Schäeuble makes a totally disoriented impression. Some CDUers are
haunted by the ghost of the Italian Christian Democrats. It could well be
that the CDU falls apart, when more details are to be published
Johannes