The former secretary general of the CSU, Heiner Geibler, has now also intervened in the candidate debate for the chairmanship of the Christian Socialists. In an interview with n-tv, he came down hard on Cologne's Cardinal Meisner, who a few days ago had questioned the suitability of politicians for top offices whose private lives run counter to the publicly propagated moral and family ideas of the CSU. Geibler said that Jesus told the Pharisees: "Let he who is guiltless cast the first stone. The Cardinal Meisner should "keep to it."
Morals and politics would have something to do with each other, as far as it concerns the general welfare. Seehofer's private life had "no place in this context," Geibler continued. Criticism of his own row The former secretary general also commented on the current dispute over the Union's family policy and criticism of the latest proposals by Family Minister von der Leyen: "Within the Union, there is still a minority of ultraconservatives who cling to a view of the family that no longer has anything to do with reality. Of course, it is the very best thing when children can be at home for the first three years, but reality has changed. More and more often both parts of the family have to work because the family income would otherwise not be sufficient. It is highly untrustworthy when politicians in my own party, of all people, who believe that wage cuts and wage dumping are the right thing to do, then mock the fact that women and men work at the same time because they can't make ends meet with these wages.
"Meisner: "How far have we actually come??" Meisner had said last week about Seehofer's alleged affair, "If it's true, you have to ask: How does he want to become chairman of a Christian party?" The cardinal added: "How far have we actually come?"The Cardinal from Cologne has always demanded that the politicians of the parties with the letter C in their names should have Christian positions both in their programs and in their daily actions.The deputy chairman of the CSU constitutional commission, Georg Fahrenschon, had countered that it was "not the task of an official church to interfere in personnel decisions". Words of warning also came from the chairman of the regional committee of Catholics in Bavaria, Helmut Mangold. He said, "The personal lifestyle of a politician that has come under public discussion is first and foremost his personal affair." The public should not interfere here. Mangold added, however, that politicians are also judged in public by their personal lives. Therefore, they must be aware "that their credibility also depends on it.".CSU politician Barbara Lanzinger, from the state executive of the Women's Union, said she did not condemn Seehofer's private life – "but voters may expect a CSU leader to match his speeches, thoughts and actions". Lanzinger added: "A debate about this must also be permissible in the current discussion about the party chairmanship.
"Greens: "moral slobbering" The Greens had reacted to Meisner's critical statement with sharp criticism. The parliamentary director of the Bundestag faction, Volker Beck, spoke of "moralistic and self-righteous drooling". The cardinal made the decision on the CSU presidency also a "decision on a sexual morality of the 19. Century". Remarried divorced and homosexuals, who would be "condemned" in the Catholic Church, would have the same rights and the same dignity as all humans in the catching.