Mr. Maassen reports to Germany’s interior minister, Horst Seehofer, a Bavarian conservative who is also openly hostile to Ms. Merkel’s migration policy and who, earlier in the year, almost brought down the coalition over the issue.
Robert Habeck, the leader of the Greens, has called on Mr. Seehofer to “immediately fire” Mr. Maassen — and for Ms. Merkel to fire Mr. Seehofer, if he did not.
But with her governing coalition relying on the Bavarian conservatives led by Mr. Seehofer, Ms. Merkel’s hands are tied.
“She should fire both but she can’t,” said Jens Hacke, a prominent political scientist and author.
Following Wednesday’s parliamentary hearings, some in the conservative camp softened their criticism of Mr. Maassen.
“In my view, Mr. Maassen laid out convincingly that his intention, his motivation, was to calm the situation down” by avoiding “dramatic language,” said Armin Schuster, a member of Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats, who had been among those questioning Mr. Maassen. “I still criticize how he went about it,” Mr. Schuster added. B ut demands for his resignation were “disproportionate,” he said.
Others seemed unconvinced.
“Especially in times like these, the intelligence agency and its president play a very sensitive and important role,” said Uli Grötsch, a Social Democrat who was also inside the hearing. Part of Mr. Maassen’s job, he said, was to maintain people’s trust in the authorities.
“This trust was damaged by Mr. Maassen’s actions,” he said.
Source : Nytimes
