US embassy cable - 04FRANKFURT9252

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 009252 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PINR, GM 
SUBJECT: Baden-Wuerttemberg Minister-President To Step Down 
in 2005;  State Minister Palmer Resigns 
 
REF:  A) 03 Frankfurt 10353, B) Frankfurt 5551, C) Frankfurt 
 
6002, D) Frankfurt 6769, E) Frankfurt 7197, F) Frankfurt 
9139 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; not for internet distribution. 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY:  Baden-Wuerttemberg (B-W) Minister President 
Erwin Teufel announced October 25 that he will relinquish 
the offices of Minister-President and CDU state chairman as 
of April 2005.  Strife over designating a successor will 
complicate local politics and life for the national CDU. 
Baden-Wuerttemberg State Minister Christoph Palmer resigned 
after a physical altercation with CDU Bundestag member 
Joachim Pfeiffer during an argument over Teufel's future. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (U) Baden-Wuerttemberg Minister-President Teufel (CDU / 
Christian Democrats) announced at an October 25 press 
conference that he would step down as minister-president and 
state party chairman as of April 19, 2005.  Teufel will 
retain his mandate in the Baden-Wuerttemberg state 
parliament until the end of the legislative period (May 
2006).  His decision follows months of infighting and 
pressure on Teufel to make way for new leadership (reftels). 
At the press conference, Teufel insisted that his decision 
to retire was personal and voluntary, noting that "it would 
be unbearable for me if the B-W citizens gain the impression 
that I am glued to my chair." 
 
3. (SBU) At the same press conference, State Minister 
Christoph Palmer announced his resignation following a 
physical altercation with CDU Bundestag representative 
Joachim Pfeiffer at a weekend election event for Stuttgart 
Lord Mayor Wolfgang Schuster (re-elected October 24 with 
53.3% of the vote).  At the event, Palmer angrily confronted 
Pfeiffer over his participation in a Bundestag caucus straw 
poll against Teufel (ref F), striking the Bundestag member 
twice in the face.  At the press conference the following 
day, Palmer took responsibility for the scuffle and tendered 
his immediate resignation.  NOTE:  Palmer -- until now 
regarded as a rising force within the B-W CDU -- oversaw 
relations with the U.S. (including U.S. forces) in his role 
as head of the State Chancellery.  END NOTE. 
 
4. (SBU) Teufel's resignation is the result of months of 
controversy and mud-slinging which have hampered the 
political process in Baden-Wuerttemberg (reftels).  The 
succession debate is focused on two contenders:  State 
Minister of Culture and Education Annette Schavan and CDU 
caucus chief Guenther Oettinger.  Although Teufel has hinted 
publicly at support for Schavan, Oettinger enjoys the public 
backing of most other groups within the state party.  In an 
October 25 meeting with CG, State Secretary Rudolf Boehmler 
opined that while Oettinger has a strong base within the 
party, Schavan has a higher public profile as state 
education minister since 1995.  The two contenders have 
agreed to put the question to the CDU membership in state- 
wide balloting.  Public opinion polls give Oettinger a small 
lead (favored by 22% of those polled, versus 16% for 
Schavan) but the majority of the public remains undecided. 
Internet polls in the wake of Teufel's announcement gave 
Oettinger a wider popular lead of 17 to 20 points. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
5. (U) With the succession question still open -- and likely 
to play out in the coming days -- state politics in Baden- 
Wuerttemberg will remain in flux for the near future. 
Moreover, the decision to poll the party membership has 
created a furor within the local and national CDU and with 
the CSU, further complicating the party's efforts to resolve 
intra- and extra-mural strife in advance of the CSU and CDU 
party conventions in mid-November and early December.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
BODDE