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Transport Minister Tiefensee under fire for Bahn bonuses

Members of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) called on Transportation Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee to resign Saturday over a bonus plan his ministry approved for the board of German railway operator Deutsche Bahn.

Published: 1 November 2008 12:36 CET

Transport Minister Tiefensee under fire for Bahn bonuses

Photo: DPA

Millions of Euros worth of bonuses were to paid to Deutsche Bahn’s board of directors after the company’s now-delayed stock listing.

The discovery that a top Transport Ministry official approved the bonuses for the state-owned company, but neglected to inform Tiefensee, a member of the Social Democrats (SPD), about the payments, has enraged German politicians.

“It is time for him to take responsibility for the serious mistakes made by his ministry,” said Johann Wadephul, the head of the Christian Democrat’s fraction in Schleswig-Holstein on Saturday.

Politicians from the opposition parties had already called for Tiefensee’s ouster, but with CDU members, the SPD’s coalition partner, joining in, Tiefensee’s future appears to getting dimmer.

In Saturday’s Bild newspaper, Tiefensee tried to calm his critics and called on Bahn chairman Hartmut Mehdorn to kill the bonus plan.

“Give up the bonus. An amicable agreement is always the best solution,” Tiefensee told Bild.

German politicians flock to TikTok after far-right success on the platform

Chancellor Olaf Scholz, hardly famous for his sparky social media presence, made his unexpected debut on the platform in April, promising he won’t be caught dancing.

And vice-chancellor Robert Habeck followed soon afterwards, despite having previously quit Twitter and Facebook after his comments online sparked social media storms.

The timing of the German leaders’ moves to join TikTok appeared to fly in the face of growing concerns in the West over the video-sharing network.

Launched in 2016 by Chinese company ByteDance, TikTok has been threatened with a ban in the United States over concerns about espionage, while the EU is investigating whether its spinoff Lite app poses a risk to young users’ mental health.

But the network’s reach among young people has even led US President Joe Biden to tap it for his election campaign.

In Germany, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been by far the most successful political party on TikTok, originally known for its dance videos and challenges.

Ulrich Siegmund, a member of parliament for the AfD in Germany’s Saxony-Anhalt state, said his party’s engagement on the network has helped “many, many people to open their eyes”.

READ ALSO: A fight for the youth vote: Are German politicians social media savvy enough?

‘We get influenced’

“TikTok gives me the chance to freely communicate our ideas… but also proven facts, and get them into the homes of our country,” Siegmund, who has been crowned the party’s “poster boy” on TikTok by German media, told AFP.

The 34-year-old has often used TikTok to protest against taxpayers’ money being spent on foreigners, especially Ukrainians.

Maximilian Krah, the German far-right MEP caught up in a recent scandal over his alleged links with China and Russia, is also a prominent figure on the network.

Surveys suggest the party’s TikTok drive has coincided with a boom in its popularity among young people.

According to a major poll published in April, the AfD is now the favourite party among young people aged 14 to 29, with a projected 22 percent of the vote – double its score just a year ago.

Founded in 2013, the AfD was “the first to use the platform systematically and strategically”, said political consultant Johannes Hillje, who has written two books on the party’s communications strategy.

The AfD has succeeded in speaking “directly to young people, in a personal way, with emotional messages”, Hillje told AFP.

A man films with a smartphone in front a placard of German far-right Alternative for Germany AfD party with the lettering 'Freedom Party' during a campaign event for the upcoming European Parliament elections, and ahead of Saxony's municipal and state elections, in Dresden, eastern Germany on May 1, 2024.

A man films with a smartphone in front a placard of German far-right Alternative for Germany AfD party with the lettering ‘Freedom Party’ during a campaign event for the upcoming European Parliament elections in Dresden, eastern Germany on May 1st, 2024. Photo by JENS SCHLUETER / AFP

“They simply know how to polarise,” said Madeleine Groebe, 17, an activist with SOE Gegen Rechts, an association of young people against the far right.

“We spend a lot of time on social networks and we get influenced,” she said.

‘Cringe risk’

Germany has nearly 20 million TikTok users, according to official statistics, with almost 60 percent of internet users aged between 12 and 19 regularly browsing the network.

Many of them will be able to vote in the EU elections in June, as the voting age has been lowered to 16 in Germany.

Habeck said he was joining TikTok because he wanted to meet young people “where they are”.

In France, Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old leader of the far-right National Rally, is already a star on the network — as is far-right Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni with over a million followers.

Hungary’s far-right leader Viktor Orban, 60, has been on TikTok since July 2023, but has struggled to make an impact.

The challenge for newcomers to TikTok will be to find the right tone, preferably without simply copying the far right or leaving themselves open to ridicule.

“The cringe risk is high,” said Hillje, and Scholz’s first video – in which he pays tribute to his trusty briefcase – is hardly very promising.

German politicians are more used to addressing the over-50s, who make up more than half of the electorate.

But they must come to grips with TikTok, Hillje said – otherwise “the TikTok generation risks becoming the AfD generation”.

By Isabelle LE PAGE

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