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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 30, 1984
PAGE 9
ON THE WORLD SCENE
THE "FLICK AFFAIR" ERODES GERMAN CONFIDENCE IN DEMOCRACY
In West Germany, a widening scandal involving the top leadership of the
government--including perhaps Chancellor Helmut Kohl himself--is tugging at
the very foundations of that nation's comparatively short-lived democratic
structure.
In simple terms, the Friedrich Flick conglomerate, a giant
holding company, has made periodic, highly questionable "campaign contribu
tions" to major officials in. all three parties--the Christian Democrats,
the Free Democrats and the Social Democrats. As a result of the revelations
in what is known as the "Flick affair," public confidence in elected offi
cials is falling in West Germany. This is an ominous sign, given that na
tion's history and proclivity to embrace strong, totalitarian leaders in
order to solve national problems. Here is an overall summary as editoria
lized in the November 23, 1984 LOS ANGELES TIMES:
In democratic societies decisions are made by parliaments elected
by the people.
But politicians running for office need money.
As a result there is a constant temptation for business and other
special interests to tilt the machinery in their favor through
campaign contributions, legal or illegal. That is true in the
United States, and, as recent events show, it is true in West
Germany.
The trouble is that democracy is much less firmly
rooted in West Germany, which means that political scandals are
much more worrisome.
The present scandal began with the sale by the Flick industrial
group in January, 1975, of a substantial interest in Daimler
Benz.
The transaction left F1ick facing a big tax unless it
could qualify for a tax exemption based on reinvestments that
created jobs or increased exports. Flick won that huge tax break
in 1976 from the previous Social Democratic government--but only
after spreading contributions totaling about 25 million marks,
more than $8 million at present exchange rates, to all three
major political parties. Under West German law political contri
butions are legal so long as they do not constitute bribery, do
not exceed the equivalent of $6800 and are publicly disclosed to
gether with the donor's identity.
In the opinion of the West German courts these criteria were not
met by Flick. Last June Otto Lamsdorff, the economics minister,
resigned shortly before being indicted by a Bonn court, along
with Flick's chief lobbyist, on charges of accepting bribes from
Flick in return for granting the tax exemption.
In October
Rainer Barzel, president of the West German parliament, resigned
amid allegations that he, too, was involved.
Now Chancellor Helmut Kohl has acknowledged that, during a two
year period before his Christian Democrats came to power, he ac
cepted contributions totaling $53,000 that were not made public
in keeping with the law. Similar payments, he said, had gone to
all three major parties that in each case did not make full dis
closure.