More Parliamentarians Admit to Side Income

After the general secretary of the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU), Laurenz Meyer, was forced to step down last week after it was revealed he had received payments from a former employer while in office, politicians from two other parties have also admitted receiving compensation from the private sector. Ulrike Flach, education expert for the Free Democratic Party (FDP), admitted that she has been on the payroll of Siemens for her work as a translator since entering the German parliament in 1998. Social Democrat Hans-Jürgen Uhl from Lower Saxony, who has been in parliament since 2002, admitted to the news magazine Der Spiegel that he receives a monthly salary from Volkswagen. Since the Meyer affair, politicians and observers have been demanding more transparency regarding payments parliamentarians receive from private sector companies. In Meyer's case, allegations of bribery and breach of trust due to the side income led to his resignation.