Politcal Spin in Germany

Here is an article from the Telegraph about the former German minister of defence:

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stripped of PhD after admitting plagiarism

Chancellor Angela Merkel's defence minister was stripped of his doctorate on Wednesday by the German university that awarded the title, after he admitted to flaws in a thesis that is the focus of a plagiarism row.

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg apologised "from the bottom of my heart" to parliament earlier on Wednesday for errors he blamed on a busy workload.

But he said he would not resign over the allegations and rejected accusations of plagiarism, insisting he had not deliberately deceived anyone.

Mr Guttenberg, Germany's most popular politician and sometimes named as a possible successor to Mrs Merkel, has been accused of copying parts of his PhD dissertation on constitutional law without correct attribution.

The scandal, dubbed "Copygate", may damage the centre-right coalition ahead of six regional elections this year because the aristocrat has been a rare bright spot in Mrs Merkel's government.

Mr Guttenberg has given the coalition a badly needed dash of glamour and topped voter polls for much of the last two years – and a survey taken on Wednesday suggested his popularity was undimmed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/8344209/Karl-Theodor-zu-Guttenberg-stripped-of-PhD-after-admitting-plagiarism.html

As this article addresses the timing of the accusastions have been excellent to fit whith the election schedule. The idea even to look through old theses of politicians in order to prove their untrustworthiness is part of political spin already.

Isabel Mayer