MP's Decision to Drop Plan for Side Job Renews Debate
July 24, 2006
Bending to massive public pressure, CDU parliamentarian Norbert Röttgen has done an about face on his plans to head up the German business lobbying group Federation of German Industries (BDI).
His decision, which came Friday, unleashed a new wave of controversy over lobbying by elected officials at the weekend. Much of the attention is focused CDU parliamentarian Reinhard Göhner, who is simultaneously the head of the German Employers' Association (BDA).
Decision is "a warning"
In contrast to Röttgen, Göhner has said he plans to simultaneously retain his MP job and the leadership post at the employers' group.
In Germany, unlike in the US, it is common practice for elected officials to continue working part time in the private sector while in office. But the new round of debate pits those who argue that it is important for public servants to keep a foot in the world of business, against those who argue that the potential for conflict of interest is too great.
"Mr. Röttgens' decision not to take the job is a warning to all association officers who are also in the German Bundestag," said Dirk Niebel, the general secretary of the opposition FDP party.
Pressure on Göhner
While two members of the opposition Left Party and one SPD parliamentarian also work full-time at the Federation of German Trade Unions, the debate over lobbyists in parliament is now increasingly focused on Göhner. In recent interviews, three Bundestag vice-presidents, including Social Democrat Susanne Kastner, urged the CDU politician to decide on one of his two positions.
"What goes for Röttgen must also apply to Göhner and Co.," the head of the Green Party, Reinhard Bütikofer, told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper.
But Göhner told the Berliner Zeitung that he can see no conflict of interest, and that none have come up in the past 10 years.
"In the future I will carry out my parliamentary mandate carefully and independently," he told the newspaper. "And I will keep fulfilling my duties for the BDA."
Meanwhile, Oskar Lafontaine of the Left Party told Bild am Sonntag that Röttgen's decision can only be seen as the first step in a much-needed "unified fight against lobbyists" in parliament. The SPD's Kastner, speaking to Die Welt, called for a voluntary code of conduct among parliamentarians.