BERLIN, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- German intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maasen will be promoted to a more senior post in the interior ministry, the country's federal government announced on Tuesday night.
The decision to relieve Maasen of his duties as president of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and instead offer him the better salaried position as secretary of state for interior- and cyber security was reached during an emergency cabinet session.
Earlier, the German Social Democrats (SPD) had threatened to quit the "grand coalition", formed together with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), unless Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) personally ensured that Maasen was sacked by Wednesday.
The previously-little known national intelligence services executive, the former BfV president, has recently sparked heated public debate in Germany by questioning the authenticity of a video footage in which right-wing extremists were seen chasing and accosting stereotypically foreign-looking civilians on the streets of Chemnitz. In doing so, Maasen directly contradicted chancellor Merkel and local security officers on the issue before backtracking on the statement in question during a subsequent report.
As a consequence, senior SPD politicians complained that the uncertainty created by Maasen and the resulting impetus provided to online conspiracy theories, as well as a growing impression that the BfV president has personal sympathies for the far-right, rendered him unsuitable for the task of protecting the German constitution.
Maasen has previously already been accused of offering clandestine advice to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on how to prevent its monitoring by the BfV, a claim he vigorously denies.
Nevertheless, interior minister and CSU leader Horst Seehofer, whose ministry is responsible for nominating the leadership of the BfV, insisted that his trust in Maasen remained intact.
In his new role, Maasen will once again report to Seehofer while receiving a monthly salary of 14,100 euros (16,500 U.S. dollars) compared to 11,500 euros at the BfV. The interior minister is scheduled to provide detailed information about the responsibilities of Maasen as secretary of state on Wednesday.
CDU leader Merkel, CSU leader Seehofer and SPD leader Andrea Nahles described Maasen's promotion as a sensible compromise which would ensure the continued existence of the "grand coalition" and thus enable the federal government to return to its regular work. However, the unusual personnel decision in response to widespread allegations of inappropriate behavior was met with a wave of criticism in the German media, the ruling parties themselves and the opposition.
The magazine "SPIEGEL" wrote that the final outcome and way in which a decision was reached in the affair offered an "exemplary case of how to promote frustration with politics."
SPD vice-president Ralf Stegner similarly told the German press agency (dpa) on Wednesday that the development was a "disaster" which would cause support in his party for a continuation of the "grand coalition" to fall even further to dangerously low levels.
For Kevin Kuehnert, the leader of the SPD youth organization (Juso) and one of the most outspoken critics of Merkel, Seehofer and Maasen, the time has come for the party to exit Merkel's fourth ruling cabinet. Kuehnert argued in the newspaper "Rheinische Post" that the "price for the continued existence of the coalition is too high." He lamented that Maasen's promotion was a "slap in the face" for everybody who had to shoulder the full responsibility for themselves and their behavior at work every day.
The Greens (Gruene) and Left party (Linke) both attacked the move as a being a "farcical" solution in separate statements. Free Democratic Party (FDP) vice president Stephan Thomae interpreted the surprising success of Maasen in securing a new government post under Seehofer as a sign of Merkel's rapidly eroding authority in her won cabinet.
