Resignation of Far-right Politician Reveals Deepening Crises in Party

The surprise resignation this week of Franz Schoenhuber as chairman of the Republican Party signifies a deepening crisis in the extreme right-wing party of German polities.

But the Jewish community warned nevertheless that Schoenhuber and the leadership that succeeds him still represent a danger to the democratic system in this country.

The 67-year-old former Waffen SS officer, who led the Republicans to a series of unexpected electoral successes in recent years, said on quitting that the party had been infiltrated by old-line Nazis and neo-Nazis.

He said he would work to purge it of such elements.

That was a significant admission, inasmuch as Schoenhuber has vigorously denied that the Republicans harbor Nazis of any vintage.

The party’s new leadership in Munich charged Thursday that Schoenhuber spoke out of deep personal frustration over not being able to impose “dictatorial measures” on the party.

Because of his critical remarks, he faces expulsion from the party he himself established four years ago, which was, from its inception, a haven for right-wing activists whose former groups were outlawed for neo-Nazi activities.

But the Republicans were easily the most successful of the far-right political parties.

They scored well in municipal elections, including the West Berlin legislature. Last year, they won 10 percent of the popular vote in nationwide balloting for delegates to the Strasbourg-based Parliament of Europe.

But the Republicans suffered a series of setbacks in the recent local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, the most populous German states. It received less than 2 percent of the vote, thereby failing to win seats in the state legislatures or town councils.