Armin, wir sollten was unternehmen!: 08/03/21

In an election year, political scandals take on particular significance, and the CDU/CSU mask scandal of early 2021 is no exception. Here, the caricaturist depicts CDU candidate Armin Laschet and CSU candidate Markus Söder sitting on a branch labelled 'election chances', which is being sawn off by the 'mask affair.' The caption reads: 'Armin, we should do something!'

The discovery that CDU/CSU politicians had been making money by helping companies selling medical masks was described by one source as the greatest crisis for the party since the 'Spendenaffäre' of 1999/2000 (for more information, see: https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/cdu-spendenaffaere-vor-20-jahren-wolfgang-schaeubles.871.de.html?dram:article_id=470343).

CDU politician Nikolas Löbel received 250,000 Euros from negotiating deals regarding the selling of masks. After this information was brought to light, he stepped down from the Party. However, the scandal is far from over. As the caricature implies, evidence of corruption at this level has consequences for the CDU/CSU's upcoming election chances. It is expected that the CDU will see a decrease in popularity in Baden-Württemberg (Löbel's state). Georg Nüßlein of the CSU has also been implicated in working with companies to secure medical masks, in return for six-figure sums. He announced that he would be stepping down after the election this year. This will undoubtedly cast a shadow over the CSU/CDU election campaign, and there remains speculation as to whether more politicians could be involved in similar activities. As the pandemic continues to hold political centre stage, the scandal certainly poses a challenge to the image of the CDU/CSU months before the election.

Source: https://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2021-03/maskenskandal-cdu-affaere-csu-jens-spahn-georg-nuesslein)