Roger Lewentz is still resisting pressure from the opposition in Mainz to vacate his post as SPD interior minister in Rhineland-Palatinate.
But the appearance of previously unknown police videos from the evening of the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley more than a year ago makes his previous defense of the inaction that night untenable.
CDU opposition leader Baldauf is correct in his assessment that the minister's resignation is "inevitable" in terms of political responsibility and morale.
Lewentz's statement is cynical
So far, Lewentz had made the excuse that on the evening of July 14, 2021 he had no precise picture of the extent of the flood and the associated danger to life and limb.
What was already revealed from the photos that were taken by a police helicopter and that Lewentz had on the night of the flood can now be seen brutally clearly in the moving images.
Huge masses of water that engulfed houses, people on roofs desperately waiting for rescue.
Lewentz's statement on this is cynical: Even if he had seen the recordings at the time, it would not have changed anything, after all there were no dead people and no devastation to be seen.
As a powerful SPD state chairman, Lewentz has had the backing of Prime Minister Malu Dreyer up to now.
For how much longer?