German president quits over lack of trust

17 Feb 2012, 10:48 pm   -   Source: AAP

Germany's president has resigned amid corruption allegations, with Chancellor Angela Merkel paying tribute to him for his work and his decision.

German President Christian Wulff has stepped down over corruption allegations, admitting he had made mistakes, but saying he had always acted within the bounds of the law.

"I have made mistakes in my offices," he said on Friday in a live broadcast from his Berlin office. "But I have always acted correctly."

He said corruption allegations which have mounted over past weeks and the ensuing lack of trust had made his position untenable.

"I'm convinced that Germany can best develop its economic and social strength and make a good contribution to European unity when integration succeeds at home," he said, in reference to an ongoing debate about immigration.

Germany needed a president which could meet these challenges unrestrictedly, he said, with the trust of "not just a majority but a broad majority of citizens".

"The events of the past days and week have shown that this trust and therefore my influence have been lastingly damaged," he said.

Chancellor Angela Merkel cancelled a trip to Italy on Friday in anticipation of Wulff's resignation.

In a live telecast half an hour after Wulff stepped down, she paid tribute to him, saying: "I have - with the greatest respect and deep personal regret - accepted the resignation of the president."

Merkel thanked Wulff for his work: "During his time in office, Christian Wulff worked with all his energy for a modern, open Germany. He made it clear to us that the strength of this country lies in its diversity.

"It's a strength of this country and the rule of law here that everybody is treated the same," she added.

With his resignation, Wulff was putting the office and its duty to the people above his conviction that he acted correctly while in office, Merkel said. "I pay tribute to this act."

She said she would seek an agreement with Germany's main opposition parties on a new head of state.

Merkel proposed Wulff for the presidency in 2010. The resignation has created a major domestic distraction for her as she grapples with the eurozone debt crisis.

Wulff has been embroiled in the slow-burning affair since mid-December, when it emerged that he had received a large private loan from a wealthy friend's wife in his previous job as governor of Lower Saxony state.

That was followed in January by intense criticism over a furious call he made to the editor of Germany's biggest-selling newspaper before it reported on the loan. Neither event resulted in an investigation of Wulff.

However, prosecutors in Hannover, Lower Saxony's capital, said there was now an "initial suspicion" that Wulff improperly accepted or granted benefits in his relationship with David Groenewold, a German film producer. In an unprecedented move against a German president, they on Thursday requested that Wulff's immunity from prosecution be lifted so they could pursue an investigation. Those benefits allegedly included paying for a luxury hotel stay in 2007.

With Wulff's resignation, the speaker of the upper house of parliament - a rotating post currently held by Bavarian governor Horst Seehofer, a member of Merkel's conservative bloc - would take over the presidential duties. On a day-to-day basis, those consist largely of signing legislation into law.

A special parliamentary assembly made up of lower-house MPs and representatives of Germany's 16 states would have to elect a successor within 30 days.

Merkel's centre-right coalition, which is prone to infighting, would have only a wafer-thin majority, meaning she might have to seek a consensus candidate with the opposition.

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