Sarrazin Quits Bundesbank After Muslim Comments Spark Outrage
Thilo Sarrazin, board member of the German Bundesbank
Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg
Thilo Sarrazin, board member of the German Bundesbank.
Thilo Sarrazin, board member of the German Bundesbank. Photographer: Michele Tantussi/Bloomberg
Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin resigned after his comments on Jews and Muslims sparked political outrage and condemnation from Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The board of the Bundesbank and board member Thilo Sarrazin are aware of their responsibility regarding the institution of the German Bundesbank,” the central bank said in an e-mailed statement late yesterday in Frankfurt. “The parties involved will end their working relationship at the end of this month” by mutual agreement.
The announcement ends a controversy that dragged the independent Bundesbank into the political sphere, forcing it for the first time to ask the country’s president to fire a member of its board. Sarrazin, 65, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper in an interview published Aug. 29 that “Jews share a particular gene” and Muslims have more difficulty assimilating into society than other immigrants.
German President Christian Wulff accepted Sarrazin’s resignation and “welcomed” his decision, a spokesman said. A spokeswoman for Merkel’s government declined to comment.
In his book “Germany Abolishes Itself,” which was released last week and this week reached the top of Der Spiegel magazine’s nonfiction bestseller list, Sarrazin argues that poorly educated immigrants are making Germany “dumber.” Merkel described the remarks as “completely unacceptable.”
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Under German law, only the head of state can fire one of the Bundesbank’s six board members. His resignation will end concerns that the controversy could have dragged on. Law professors had argued that any disciplinary action by Wulff might run astray of European and national rules that protects the independence of central banks.
“I know my employment contract, that’s for sure,” Sarrazin said Aug. 30.
While Sarrazin’s views were decried by politicians, they have found favor in some sections of the public. Most Germans saw no need to dismiss Sarrazin from the Bundesbank board, a poll showed Sept. 1.
Fifty-one percent of 1,000 respondents said firing him wasn’t necessary, while 32 percent wanted him ousted, according to the Emnid poll taken Aug. 31 for the N24 television channel. While 35 percent said they disagreed with Sarrazin’s arguments, 30 percent said they agreed.
In an extract of his book published in Der Spiegel last month, Sarrazin wrote: “I don’t want the country of my grandchildren and forefathers to be in broad swathes Muslim, where Turkish and Arabic is widely spoken, where women wear headscarves and where the daily rhythm of life is set by the call of the muezzins.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Vits in Frankfurt at cvits@bloomberg.net
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