Germany: Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) voted yesterday to expel Mr Martin Hohmann, an MP at the centre of an anti-Semitism row, but the party was in crisis last night after one-fifth of its MPs failed to back the motion, writes Derek Scally in Berlin
The required two-thirds majority was reached easily with 195 votes, but the 28 no votes, 16 abstentions and four invalid votes damaged the party and will prolong the controversy.
Speaking after the vote, Dr Angela Merkel said: "The result is unambiguous, though it shows that many colleagues struggled on a personal level. I believe it is politically the right thing, with no alternative."
Other leading conservatives were less diplomatic. The deputy leader of the CDU, Mr Laurence Meyer, dismissed journalists' questions about the divided result as "rubbish, pure rubbish".
Mr Hohmann is the first CDU politician to be expelled from the party. He had suggested in a speech that the "Jewish people" could be called "perpetrators of mass murder" because some Jews were responsible for atrocities committed during the Russian Revolution.
The speech, made in the MP's home town of Neuhof, near Frankfurt, six weeks ago, came to light only two weeks ago. CDU leaders at first reprimanded Mr Hohmann for his remarks but, 11 days later, under huge public pressure, decided to expel him.
Yesterday's divided vote was the outcome many senior party members had feared most. Leaders of the CDU will now have to try to address growing unrest among members.
Supporters of Mr Hohmann took out a quarter-page advertisement in several newspapers yesterday, calling for "solidarity" with the bankbencher. "We consider Mr Hohmann's speech controversial and in parts even questionable, but in no way anti-Semitic," said 23 CDU members in an open letter to party leaders.
Mr Hohmann will, for the moment, remain a non-party member of the Lower House, the Bundestag. Proceedings to expel him from the parliament altogether are already under way, but these could take at least a year, or longer if Mr Hohmann mounts a legal challenge.
No one in the CDU was prepared to comment on speculation in Germany's Bild newspaper yesterday that Mr Hohmann was planning to form a new right-wing party.