Berlin: Germany's defence minister resigned yesterday amid persistent allegations of plagiarism in his doctoral thesis, depriving Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives of a man rated as the country's most popular politician.
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, 39, said he had decided to go not just because of his faulty doctoral work but because the focus on it threatened to overshadow duties such as managing an overhaul of the German military and troops' deployment in Afghanistan.
"It is the most painful step of my life," Guttenberg said. "Because my office, the Bundeswehr, academia and the parties that support me faced potential damage, I am drawing the consequences that I have and would have demanded of others."
Bayreuth University revoked Guttenberg's academic title last week, saying the minister had failed to credit sufficiently some of his sources.
Guttenberg had been the rising star of Germany's centre-right. He built a reputation as a plain-speaking man of action in a brief stint as economy minister and then defence minister.
In that job, he pushed through a plan to end conscription — part of an effort to slim down the German military and make it better adapted to an era in which it faces growing demands overseas.
But Guttenberg's crisis management after the plagiarism allegations emerged was less than impressive.
He initially described them as "absurd", then said he would stop using his title as a doctor temporarily while the university looked into the accusations. Guttenberg told jeering lawmakers in parliament last week that he did not deliberately cheat, but made serious errors.
He said he had been overwhelmed by writing the work while starting a family and launching his political career.
Merkel stood by Guttenberg, but the scandal wouldn't go away.
On Monday, Merkel received an open letter from 23,000 doctoral students and others protesting her decision to keep him.
Guttenberg is a member of the Christian Social Union, the Bavaria-only sister party to Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
While the CSU itself doesn't have to face voters this year, six of Germany's states are due to hold regional elections, including Baden-Wuerttemberg, a test for Merkel's coalition.
Merkel had backed Guttenberg to campaign with polls suggesting people supported him.
What do you think of this issue? Do you think it is fair to ask the minister quit without the allegations being proven?
