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U.S. editorial excerpts -2-+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)NEW YORK, April 4_(Kyodo) _ Selected editorial excerpts from the U.S. press: MR. SCHROEDER'S GAG ORDER (The New York Times, New York) A court in Hamburg confirmed a gag order yesterday that reins in a German politician's criticism of the former chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, for taking a lucrative job as head of a Russian-led gas pipeline project. Here is what the politician, Guido Westerwelle, leader of the Free Democrats, is no longer permitted to say: Mr. Schroeder cut a deal on the project with the Russian gas giant Gazprom while he was chancellor and then went to work for Gazprom immediately on leaving office. Now it emerges that Mr. Schroeder's government guaranteed financing of more than a billion dollars for the pipeline. Mr. Schroeder insists that he knew nothing about that. The project, which was formally inaugurated last week, is a Russian-led consortium to build a pipeline linking Russia and Germany. Mr. Schroeder signed the $4.8 billion agreement in September, just 10 days before the German general election in which his Social Democrats stumbled, and the Christian Democratic Union took the lead. Then, less than a month after leaving office, Mr. Schroeder became head of the consortium's supervisory board. Gazprom, which is controlled by the Russian government, holds 51 percent of the venture; two German companies, E.ON and BASF, control the rest. Like many other politicians who can't wait to cash in on their public service, Mr. Schroeder seems not to understand - or pretends he doesn't - that "wrong" is not the same as "illegal." It is a serious breach of trust for a former elected official to make money off projects that he began. The conflict of interest is far more grievous when it applies to a former head of government. It is not for us to suggest that Mr. Westerwelle defy the law, but the rest of Germany is not similarly gagged. Germans should hammer the point home until Mr. Schroeder and other greedy politicians get it. (April 4) [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] |