Pressure is mounting on the newly elected leader of The Left party in Germany, Luigi Pantisano, over his remarks likening the policies of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to fascism, with several conservative politicians calling for his resignation on Monday.
Pantisano apologized on Monday morning.
"My statement that there is currently no difference between the policies of the CDU and the AfD was abridged and wrong in that form," Pantisano told dpa, referring to the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party.
"I apologize for that, in particular to those within the CDU who repeatedly stress the need for a clear firewall against the AfD," he said. The CDU, led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, is the main conservative party in Germany's coalition government.
Apology rejected
CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann rejected the apology. "To speak of 'abridged' is an impertinence," he told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper. "Mr Pantisano's statement was crystal clear. Now he is trying to wriggle out of it with 'abridged.'"
Earlier, the secretaries general of both parties in the conservative bloc - the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - had sharply criticized Pantisano.
"Mr Pantisano had the chance yesterday to distance himself from his contemptible insinuation in interviews. He did not do so," Linnemann told dpa. He added: "The Left must now make things clear: either he resigns as leader immediately, or Mr Pantisano's view is party policy."
CSU: Pantisano endangers political discourse
CSU Secretary General Martin Huber also called for Pantisano to resign. "The new Left party leader Luigi Pantisano must resign immediately after his catastrophic false start.
"When Pantisano equates the CDU/CSU with fascists, he endangers political discourse and directly attacks our democracy," Huber told dpa in Munich.
He called it a "genuine political scandal that mocks the victims of fascism just as it insults democrats in our country."
Schleswig-Holstein Premier Daniel Günther of the CDU had been the first prominent conservative politician to suggest Pantisano should step back.
Left party candidate dubs statement unacceptable
Pantisano had sharply attacked the CDU in a Bild interview at the weekend, saying: "Ultimately, there is currently no difference between the CDU, which pursues fascist policies, the AfD, or the fascists themselves."
Several CDU/CSU politicians reacted with outrage. There was also unease within The Left party itself.
Pantisano had already clarified at the weekend that the wording had been unfortunate and abridged.
The backdrop is a debate over whether The Left party could support a CDU-led state government in Saxony-Anhalt following a possible AfD election victory in the eastern region.
Left party members from eastern Germany in particular reacted with incomprehension.
Eva von Angern, the party's lead candidate in Saxony-Anhalt, said in Magdeburg that Pantisano's statement was not just unfortunate but unacceptable. The new national leader had said he was trying to win back trust. "I take him at his word on that, and we as the Saxony-Anhalt branch will hold him to it," she said.
Left party leader stands by criticism of CDU/CSU's 'rightward course'
In his clarification, Pantisano said: "We must not blur the distinction between political opponents within the democratic spectrum and those who want to abolish democracy."
He nonetheless reaffirmed his "fundamental criticism of the CDU/CSU's rightward course," saying it was being pursued at the expense of many people in the country.
"My concern about a possible further political rapprochement between the CDU and the AfD also remains," Pantisano said. "This development worries me greatly."
