The affair surrounding Hubert Aiwanger’s past and his obvious inability to deal with it continues to dominate the headlines.
Now Söder wants a short-term answer from Aiwanger to his 25 questions, “preferably today”, in order to make a “fair” decision at the weekend.
I dare a prognosis: Since new reports about Aiwanger’s past keep appearing and he simply cannot clear the subject, Söder will clear him as minister. He will thank him for his good offices as Economics Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, saying that he agrees with Aiwanger that the priority now must be to avert damage to the Free State and it would therefore be better for Bavaria if Aiwanger up to a final clarification of things, no longer holds any state office, but that he assumes continued good cooperation with him as party leader of the Free Voters.
If Söder proceeds in this way, he has shown leadership, can make his demarcation against right-wing extremist ideas credible and the cards will be reshuffled for the time after the election anyway. By then, the fog surrounding Aiwanger’s past may have lifted and the prospects for his future will then also be clearer.
Is that a “fair” decision? Maybe not. Unfortunately, in politics, justice and fairness are all too often only secondary virtues or even annoying obstacles to power. In any case, it would be a wise decision in terms of power politics, and Aiwanger would have to blame himself for what his followers believe to be the “unfair” outcome of the story. He won’t be the last person to fail such an endurance test during an election campaign – and maybe that’s a good thing.