Pressure grows to sack German banker in immigrant row-UPDATE 1
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Friday September 03, 2010 07:54:13 AM GMT
* German President, who must approve dismissal, ups pressure
* Holocaust survivors group to demand Sarrazin's removal
* Newspaper says Bundesbank mulling how to sack banker
(Recasts, adds Trichet, details)
By Dave Graham
BERLIN, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Pressure grew on Thursday for Germany's central bank to fire a board member over his remarks on Muslim immigrants and Jews, as the man with the final word on the matter hinted he would support a dismissal.
German President Christian Wulff increased pressure on the Bundesbank to dismiss Thilo Sarrazin, arguing it needed to limit damage to Germany's reputation. Wulff would have to approve Sarrazin's dismissal if the board voted for it.
Newspapers columnists also lined up against the ex-finance minister of the city of Berlin, who looked less likely to hold onto his job after a grilling on late night television in which he said he was "under considerable psychological pressure".
Sarrazin has divided Germany with criticism of the country's large Muslim community, and outspoken remarks asserting that Jews have a particular genetic makeup, bringing calls from politicians that the bank should throw him out.
Speaking to N24 television on Wednesday night, Wulff hinted that this might be the best course of action, as a newspaper reported the bank's board had agreed to sack Sarrazin, but that no official decision had yet been made.
"I think the board of the Bundesbank can do quite a lot so that this debate does not damage Germany -- in particular internationally," Wulff said.
On Thursday, the Berliner Zeitung daily said the bank's board was no longer debating whether to remove Sarrazin but how to do so. The Bundesbank declined to comment on the report.
Business daily Handelsblatt said Bundesbank President Axel Weber was facing "fateful days", running a two-page spread featuring potential replacements for Sarrazin.
A number of German leaders hope Weber will succeed Jean-Claude Trichet as President of the European Central Bank next year when the Frenchman's contract runs out.
Trichet told a meeting of the ECB that "as a citizen" he was appalled by Sarrazin's remarks and that he had full confidence in the Bundesbank's decisions.
Polls published on Wednesday showed Germans were divided on whether the banker should remain at his post.
The Bundesbank can remove Sarrazin if it has evidence of serious misconduct. Both the 65-year-old and the bank have repeatedly stated his comments on race and religion are not linked to his role at the Bundesbank.
Germany's Jewish community has condemned Sarrazin and a U.S. Holocaust survivors' group said it would lobby German embassies worldwide for Sarrazin to be removed from the Bundesbank.
"Sarrazin's racist comments have not only offended us as victims of Nazi Germany's brutalities, but are blackening the morally upright position of modern day Germany," Elan Steinberg, Vice President of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, said in a statement on Thursday.
The bank said on Wednesday it had put off a decision on Sarrazin's fate until at least Thursday. German media reported a decision could be announced Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday's talk show, Sarrazin repeated that his arguments focused on statistics and culture -- not race -- but he struggled to hold ground against successful Jewish and Muslim professionals with immigrant backgrounds.
The crowd applauded as they scored points in the debate, and Sarrazin refused to say whether he felt his job was secure.
"The future will show -- I'm not here in my capacity as Bundesbank board member, but as an author," he said. (Additional reporting by Brian Rohan; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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