German bank votes to expel disputed member

9/02/2010 06:00:15 AM

BERLIN – The German central bank has voted to seek the dismissal of board member Thilo Sarrazin, the daily Berliner Zeitung reported on Thursday, following his latest comments on immigration and Jews.

Deutsche Bundesbank president Axel Weber and the board's four other members agreed unanimously on Wednesday to recommend Sarrazin be dismissed for remarks deemed racist, the newspaper said, quoting a source close to the matter.

Details of Sarrazin's departure have not yet been finalised, it added, while a Bundesbank spokesman declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Sarrazin was expected to appeal the bank's decision, and he can only be dismissed by German President Christian Wulff.

In his latest book, "Germany Does Itself In", Sarrazin claimed that Muslim immigration and a high birth rate among Turkish immigrants will harm the country's long-term economic potential.

He also said that "all Jews share a certain gene," and that members of the French and Spanish Basque community do as well.

Sarrazin's comments follow previous similarly controversial remarks and have stirred up a hornet's nest, with Chancellor Angela Merkel terming the latest ones "completely unacceptable."

A significant number of Germans support Sarrazin however, citing a refusal by some immigrants to integrate themselves into German society.

A poll of viewers by the news television N-24 found that 51 percent opposed Sarrazin being fired from his position on the Bundesbank board.

The head of the centre-left Social Democratic Party , of which Sarrazin is a member, said Wednesday he had received a flood of messages backing the controversial figure, who could face exclusion nonetheless.

For the German weekly Die Zeit, "Thilo Sarrazin is in the process of becoming a national hero, exclusion from the Bundesbank board or the SPD could even confer on him the statute of martyr."

The head of the Greens party, Renate Kuenast, acknowledged Thursday that the immigration issue caused her "concern as well," even as she distanced herself from Sarrazin's comments.

mtr-oaa-wai/cwrmany-Turkey-bank-politics-migration-Jews

German central bank votes to exclude disputed member: report

BERLIN, Sept 2, 2010 - The German central bank has voted to seek the dismissal of board member Thilo Sarrazin, the Berliner Zeitung newspaper reported on Thursday, following his latest comments on immigration and Jews.

Deutsche Bundesbank president Axel Weber and the board's four other members agreed unanimously on Wednesday to recommend Sarrazin be dismissed for remarks deeme d rascist, the newspaper said, quoting a source close to the matter.

Details of Sarrazin's departure have not yet been finalised, it added, while a Bundesbank spokesman declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Sarrazin was expected to appeal the bank's decision, and his dismissal can only be decided by German President Christian Wulff.

In his latest book, "Germany Does Itself In", Sarrazin claims that Muslim immigration and a high birth rate among Turkish immigrants will harm the country's long-term economic potential.

He also said that "all Jews share a certain gene," and that members of the French and Spanish Basque community do as well.

Sarrazin's comments follow previous similarly controversial remarks and have stirred up a hornet's nest, with Chancellor Angela Merkel terming the latest ones "completely unacceptable."

But a significant number of Germans support Sarrazin, citing the lack of will on the part of some immigrants to integrate themselves into German society.

The head of the centre-left Social Democratic Party, of which Sarrazin is a member, said Wednesday he had received a flood of messages backing the controversial figure.

The SPD nonetheless seeks to exclude him as well.