DistantNews
Support us
🇩🇪 Germany /Crime & Justice

After crash and investigation, Bareiß says he will remain in parliament

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Under investigation
  • CDU lawmaker Thomas Bareiß says he plans to keep his Bundestag seat while recovering from a serious traffic accident and facing a prosecutorial investigation.
  • Youth organizations within the CDU have unanimously called for his resignation, but Bareiß says he will not comply.
  • He previously said he would take a political leave and step aside as CDU district chairman, while senior party figures have not publicly demanded that he leave parliament.

Thomas Bareiß intends to remain in Germany’s Bundestag despite an investigation following a serious traffic accident and growing demands within the CDU that he give up his seat.

Bareiß told the Badische Neueste Nachrichten in writing that he would use the first parliamentary week after the summer recess for a break and full medical recovery. “Parliamentary work will continue unchanged,” he said.

I will need to use the first sitting week of the German Bundestag after the summer recess for my leave and full medical recovery. Parliamentary work will continue unchanged.

· Thomas BareißBareiß explained why he would take time off while retaining his parliamentary mandate.

The Junge Union in Zollernalb and the district committee of the Junge Union Württemberg-Hohenzollern have unanimously called for the lawmaker to surrender his mandate. Bareiß made clear that he would also reject calls from his CDU district association to resign.

He said the interests of citizens, municipalities and companies in his constituency would continue to be represented directly. His constituency and Bundestag offices would remain available for personal contact, he said.

The interests and concerns of citizens, municipalities and companies from the constituency will continue to be taken up directly and represented politically, and the constituency and Bundestag offices will of course remain available for direct contact.

· Thomas BareißBareiß said he would continue representing his constituency despite calls for his resignation.

Prosecutors are investigating allegations that the 51-year-old consumed synthetic drugs before causing a serious crash in mid-July. In a personal statement in early August, Bareiß apologized and announced a break from politics. He also said he would suspend his role as CDU chairman in Württemberg-Hohenzollern and would not seek re-election.

Bareiß has served in the Bundestag since 2005. A spokesman for parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei said the party respected Bareiß’s wish to focus first on his recovery. A spokesman for Baden-Württemberg CDU leader Manuel Hagel declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

The member of parliament has asked to focus first on his recovery. Of course, we respect this wish.

· Spokesman for Thorsten FreiThe parliamentary group leader’s spokesman responded to Bareiß’s request for time to recover.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog