The crisis within Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) over illegal donations to party funds deepened last night when their leader, Dr Wolfgang Schauble, admitted he accepted DM100,000 (£40,000) in cash from an arms dealer who is now a fugitive from justice.
Dr Schauble said in a television interview that he passed the money on to the CDU treasurer and was surprised to discover later that its donor was not identified in party accounts.
The arms dealer, Mr Karl-Heinz Schreiber, sparked the scandal over party funding last November when he revealed that he handed DM 1 million (£400,000) in cash to a CDU official. German authorities are seeking his extradition from Canada on tax evasion charges.
Dr Schauble acknowledged for the first time that, as a key figure in the "patriarchal system" of his predecessor as party leader, Dr Helmut Kohl, he shared responsibility for the scandal over secret payments. Dr Kohl has admitted accepting up to u£1 million in secret donations and channelling the money through a network of secret accounts to local party organisations.
Dr Schauble was at pains to stress that, unlike Dr Kohl, he did not deliberately break party funding laws and that he behaved properly by passing the money on to the party treasurer. He ruled out resigning as party leader and his general secretary, Dr Angela Merkel praised Dr Schauble's openness, which contrasts with his predecessor's refusal to reveal the names of the secret donors.
"Schauble's performance is an expression of the credibility and honesty of the new party leadership, that we reveal what we know. We have nothing to hide," she said.
A report in today's edition of the Stuttgarter Zeitung claims Dr Schauble came "under massive pressure" from Dr Kohl to make last night's admission. The paper claims Dr Kohl is "in close contact" with Mr Schreiber and that he has known about the payment to Dr Schauble for some time.
Dr Kohl denied at the weekend that he is encouraging his supporters to launch a leadership challenge against Dr Schauble, who has been increasingly critical of the former chancellor's refusal to reveal details about the secret donations he accepted.
