Markus Söder and the Chancellery: On the greatness of his role models
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EIt is so much the job of the press to keep an eye on politics that one is tempted to write about press release. But not even Sauron, the ruler of Mordor, could always keep an eye on everything with his red eye. We journalists also have to decide again and again what to follow and who not to follow. We did not count Markus Söder’s recent election and swearing-in as Prime Minister as an event that should have been observed from the first to the last second. However, a letter to the editor made it clear to us that this was a misjudgment.
The reader asked whether the oath that Söder took was valid. Because he only raised his left hand to swear. A CSU man on the left? Incredible! Was the reader exposed to a deepfake? We immediately looked at all available recordings. But this has even increased our doubts about the validity of the oath.
Did Söder want to pat Aigner?
Söder actually raised his left arm – but only after “so help me God”. He did it as casually as the legendary “Dude” Lebowski. He shaped his hand as if he wanted to pat the President of the State Parliament, Ilse Aigner, who had read the oath to him without errors and thus helped him extend the honor of his life for another five years. Aigner and Söder have come to terms. She no longer strives for his job and of course he doesn’t want hers either.
So could Söder’s negligence when swearing perhaps be due to the lack of competition within the party? Or did he simply suffer from hypoglycemia like Friedrich Zimmermann did at the time? The CSU ancestor had – perfectly formally – sworn perjury, but this was revoked in the second instance: an expert consulted confirmed that he had reduced mental performance at the time of the oath as a result of symptomatic hypoglycemia. This no longer seemed to bother Zimmermann when he later became Federal Minister of the Interior. But the nickname “Old Schwurhand” stuck with him.
The humility and modesty that he showed indicate that Söder also had low blood sugar levels. He actually spoke of “standing in the tradition of very great prime ministers, whose measure and greatness I personally will never reach”.
Seehofer would probably have nodded
Man, there was a real sugar rush! Nobody has ever been taller than Söder (1.94). Not Seehofer, who at least had guard height (1.93), not Stoiber (1.82), not Strauß (1.79), not to mention Beckstein. Or should Söder have meant the differences in character format? At this point in Söder’s self-doubt, Seehofer would probably have nodded, but he probably preferred to play with the train at home on his successor’s special day.
But back to the reader’s question. Söder’s oath is valid! The swearing-in would only have been contestable if Söder had made a mistake in the oath formula, as Obama did back then. But the hand position doesn’t matter. The old and new Prime Minister could have picked their noses when taking the oath, with their right or left.
Neither the Bavarian constitution nor the Basic Law nor simple laws stipulate that the highest civil servants must raise their hands to swear an oath. Our former Chancellor Merkel already took advantage of this loophole, as she also considered it unnecessary to exert herself physically during the apparently damned second swearing-in ceremony.
So Söder now also stands in the tradition of a really great chancellor (Bavarian Order of Merit), whose size and stature he will probably never reach. But anyone who makes it to the throne of the Bavarian Prime Minister without such size and stature and stays there can certainly still become Chancellor. We weren’t surprised when Söder’s personal vow was: Nothing is too difficult for me, I swear!
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