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Erfurt (dpa) - Daddling around on the smartphone at the Prime Minister's Conference and belittling the Chancellor as "Merkelchen": Just a few days after the start of the hype about the Clubhouse talk app in Germany, the first top politician was already in trouble with chatting.
And the criticism of Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow after his casual appearance in the app has not yet subsided - today it was also loud in Ramelow's own cabinet.
The left-wing politician has now apologized in various ways for his statements on Saturday night.
The communicative faux pas could also continue to haunt him in the new week.
The FDP parliamentary group vice-Michael Theurer asked on Monday the question of the “self-control of some politicians” when it comes to the Clubhouse app.
"Just as Robert Habeck once uninstalled Twitter because he lacked the discipline for this app, similar questions arise when Philipp Amthor (CDU) or Bodo Ramelow serenades at night," said the Bundestag member of the German Press Agency.
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But what had happened anyway?
Ramelow is regarded as a person who is very affine for new media and likes to use their different channels for his communication.
The latest hit right now: The Clubhouse audio app.
In the social media app from the USA, users can take part in panel discussions.
According to the app, Ramelow has been registered since January 21st, on Saturday night, as he told the dpa, he took part in the “Trash and Features” panel - and chatted from the much-cited sewing box.
The left-wing politician said that during the deliberations of the Prime Minister with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on the corona crisis, he was happy to devote himself to the online game Candy Crush.
As the “Welt am Sonntag” reported, Ramelow said he could manage up to ten levels.
"Some play Sudoku, others play chess or Scrabble on their cell phones, and I play Candy Crush," said Ramelow on the dpa on Sunday.
In addition, he is said to have sung at his appearance and called the Chancellor "Merkelchen".
The latter was taken out of context, said the left-wing politician of the dpa.
The chat was followed by numerous pointed media reports, political criticism, especially from Thuringia, and the accusation that the Prime Minister did not act responsibly during the most important consultations in the fight against the corona pandemic.
One of the critics: Thuringia's interior minister.
"If it turns out that Bodo Ramelow is playing mobile phone games during the Prime Minister's Conference, then he should check his behavior," said Georg Maier (SPD) to the editorial network Germany (RND / Monday).
"The situation is too serious for that."
Ramelow tried, meanwhile, offensively and with numerous apologies to keep the damage as small as possible.
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"As of now, when I turn on this format, I notice that in the back of my mind I have the learning curve from the day before yesterday and yesterday," said the left-wing politician on Sunday when he appeared again at Clubhouse.
The analysis of a media service that the enemy is always listening has now been internalized with regard to the app.
He explicitly apologized for the phrase "Merkelchen": "A clever woman has just conclusively explained to me the actual faux pas of my clubhouse chat on @clubhouse_de and it convinced me," tweeted Ramelow on Sunday evening.
«To belittle the name of the Chancellor was an act of male ignorance.
I sincerely apologize for that. "
The fact that he sometimes plays Candy Crush during the federal / state consultations, on the other hand, is no excitement and no secret.
If you know that a prime ministerial conference currently lasts around ten hours and contains a lot of idle time, "then I am happy to admit that one person plays Sudoku, the other knits or crochets or whatever - and I play Candy Crush."
Thuringia's CDU boss Christian Hirte considers this to be disrespectful and irresponsible.
"Either it is an expression of arrogance of power or fatigue," wrote Hirte on Sunday on Twitter.
Fighting the corona pandemic is about life and death as well as the livelihoods and the future of a generation of students.
"Anyone who understands his office as prime minister in this way is losing the trust of the citizens," wrote Hirte.
The Thuringian FDP parliamentary group described Ramelow's actions in the corona pandemic as chaotic, the AfD member of the Bundestag Stephan Brandner rated Ramelow as “embarrassing for Thuringia”.
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From the point of view of FDP politician Theurer, Ramelow's revelations give an idea of "how things are going at the level of discussion in the escalating prime ministerial groups".
“The fact that this round has de facto shifted a large part of the legislative functions in Germany from the Bundestag and Landtag to the back room is completely unacceptable.
The decisions and the discussion about them have to go back to the parliaments, ”Theurer told the dpa - and thus repeated a demand made time and again by the liberals.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210125-99-155993 / 2