ALLIANCE FO§ DEMOCRACY

Niebel’s Low Points

We have known that politicians make good lobbyists at least since the former Minister of State at the Chancellery, Eckart von Klaeden (CDU), moved as the Head of the Department of Policy and External Affairs at the headquarters of the Berlin government to the Daimler automotive company and the intention of ex-Chancellery Minister Ronald Pofalla (CDU) to move to the management of the German railway company Deutsche Bahn (from 2015), followed by the former Development Minister Dirk Niebel from the FDP to the lobby of the lobbyists. He plans to advise the Rheinmetall defence contractor.
As before in the case of Pofalla, Chancellor Merkel had not raised any objections to the change; and as in the case of Pofalla, the discussion about waiting times for ministers who change their employer is flaring up again.
It will take a long time until such regulations are put in place, as the exchange between the lobbyists and politicians is profitable for both sites. It is possible here to speak of corruption, preferential treatment and nepotism without exaggeration. In the case of Niebel this is particularly tricky, as the FDP politician was a member of the Federal Security Council and must have known about and voted on decisions on arms exports. Selecting such specialists as intermediaries between politicians and defence contractors is extremely dubious and does not help to reduce the smell of corruption and sleazy transactions among politicians.
Niebel’s political achievements are confusing. Before the election he wanted to abolish a ministry: development aid, which was to fall under the Foreign Office and not be an independent ministry. After the election he took over this very ministry which he had once wanted to abolish, managing to ensure that the development aid department remained independent, and even managing to merge three state development aid organisations into one (GIZ, German Society for International Cooperation). What remains is a greasy Bundeswehr cap, which at the end of his period in office Niebel presented to the “House of History” – this cap had been worn by the captain of the reserve on many of his journeys, and he had often been ridiculed because of it by colleagues and the press. Another source of ridicule was a carpet which Niebel had had brought from Kabul, of course by none other than the Head of the German Intelligence Agency (BND). He had the woven object that was destined for Niebel in his aeroplane without paying any customs duty; in other words it was smuggled in. Niebel stood up at the time in front of the questioning journalists and played the innocent lamb quite convincingly.
Anyone who had forgotten the name Niebel after these incidents was strongly reminded of a man who could not refrain from arguing, because Niebel attacked none other than his boss: Philipp Rösler. Niebel‘s offer failed. From this moment on, Niebel will have left his wings in the corner, because as a fallen reformist he will soon be contributing to the arms lobby what politicians unofficially can just about represent. The man Dirk Niebel will play his role in this, maybe a more skilful role than the one that he has played up to now in public on behalf of the offices he has held; as a politician, Niebel has failed. His only contribution has been to add another notch to the negative scale of the profession of politician, the integrity of which is already sorely afflicted.