German minister resigns in plagiarism row

smh.com.au, March 2, 2011

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Germany's defence minister and the country's most popular politician, resigned amid embarrassing allegations that he plagiarised parts of his doctoral dissertation.

Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg

"It's the most painful step of my life," Guttenberg told reporters at a hastily called news conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

The man once touted as a possible future chancellor but recently derided as "Baron Cut and Paste" and "zu Googleberg" said he could no longer be certain of meeting "the highest expectations I put on myself."

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His resignation is a major blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservative coalition has been struggling in the polls and faces important local elections in coming weeks. Last month, her party, the Christian Democrats, suffered a humiliating defeat in Hamburg, one of its former strongholds.

With his aristocratic background and suave demeanour, Guttenberg was the star of Merkel's team, unusually popular for a defence minister.

Opinion polls routinely showed him with the highest approval ratings of any politician.

He was responsible for a historic decision last year to end the draft in Germany and was in charge of a major overhaul of the military, which could see the number of troops reduced by more than 25 per cent.

"I deeply regret his resignation," Merkel said. "Like many other people in our country, I'm very saddened by this."

His continued presence in government became harder to defend as the scandal over his doctoral thesis dragged on and criticism of his response to it mounted.

At first, Guttenberg, 39, described accusations that he copied passages verbatim from other sources without attribution as "absurd."

But as evidence grew that up to half of his thesis was lifted from other sources, he was forced to backpedal, saying he would stop using the title "doctor" until the matter was resolved.

Before a group of jeering lawmakers last week, Guttenberg insisted that he had not deliberately cheated but acknowledged making "serious errors." The University of Bayreuth announced that it was revoking his degree.

Merkel said she was surprised by Guttenberg's decision to quit. He had given little indication that he was contemplating such a step.

"I was always ready to fight, but I have reached the limits of my strength," Guttenberg said.