Söder keeps Aiwanger as Bavarian deputy premier over flyer affair

On 4 September 2023, Bavarian Minister-President Markus Söder (CSU, the conservative Christian Social Union) announced that he would not dismiss his deputy, Hubert Aiwanger of the Free Voters party. Aiwanger remained economy minister and deputy premier of the state.

The decision followed the so-called flyer affair. In late August 2023, the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that a vile antisemitic leaflet had circulated at Aiwanger's school in the late 1980s, when he was a pupil. Aiwanger denied writing it, and his brother later said he was the author. Aiwanger acknowledged that copies had been found in his school bag and apologised to victims of the Nazi regime, while criticising what he saw as a political smear campaign. Söder had put a catalogue of questions to him and examined his answers.

Söder concluded that dismissal would be disproportionate, though he said open questions and criticism remained. The coalition of CSU and Free Voters continued, and a little over a month later it won the Bavarian state election of 8 October 2023. The episode shaped Aiwanger's national profile and the debate over how to deal with past conduct in politics.