Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was fined 1.2 million euros (1.6 million dollars) Thursday for misusing state funds in a provincial electoral campaign, according to dpa. The penalty was ordered by the speaker of the federal parliament, Norbert Lammert, who oversees government funding of political parties and their audits nationwide. There was no suggestion that Merkel herself was aware on the misdeeds of her regional supporters. The CDU of the western state of Rhineland Palatinate admitted earlier this week that some of the funding for its 2006 state election campaign had been drawn from a parliamentary research budget for CDU state legislators. Under German law, parliamentary budgets may not be spent on campaigning since the parties already receive generous direct financing. Campaign budgets pay for TV spots, rallies, travel and posters. Lammert said in a statement the "donation" of about 400,000 euros to the CDU campaign fund was illegal and he was imposing the standard penalty of three times the amount. The donation was disguised as a consultancy fee. Separately, prosecutors are investigating the former leader of the Rhineland Palatinate CDU, Christoph Boehr, on a possible charge of misappropriation of state funds. He is not accused of personally profiting from the scam, which has only gradually come to light. To stop political corruption, Germany directly funds all of its parties in proportion to the number of votes they received at past elections. In exchange, the parties must submit to financial audits and draconian penalties for funding irregularities.
