Slideshow ( 2 images ) MUNICH (Reuters) - German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has offered to resign as both minister and as chairman of Bavaria’s Christian Social Union at a closed meeting of the party’s presidency, party sources said on Sunday. Sources said Seehofer had not yet submitted the resignation and that some in the party were attempting to change his mind over the decision. Seehofer has been pushing for Chancellor Angela Merkel to agree to a tougher immigration policy.<doc-sep>German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer's surprise announcement that he's considering resigning from his cabinet post as well as his position as the head of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) has sent shockwaves through German politics. As he enters into last-ditch talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrats (CDU) over Germany's asylum policy, DW breaks down the consequences his resignation would have for Merkel and the ruling coalition between the CDU, the CSU and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). How does resignation work? Germany's Basic Law (constitution) doesn't make a distinction between voluntary resignation and dismissal for federal ministers, meaning that Seehofer must ask Merkel to be dismissed. Should Seehofer ask to be dismissed, Merkel cannot make the call by herself. She would need to propose the move to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who would then be the one to dismiss Seehofer from his interior minister post. What could the CSU do if he leaves? Should Seehofer decide to leave his post, his Bavarian party would then need to propose a new candidate from their ranks to be the next interior minister. If, however, the party no longer wants to stay in the governing coalition, they could also pull all of their ministers out of Merkel's cabinet, thereby ending the government's majority in the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament. What happens to Merkel's government? Should the CSU decide to nominate a replacement for Seehofer, Merkel's coalition would continue to remain in power, although the chancellor would have to contend with even further strained ties between the conservative allies. If the CSU no longer wants to stay in the coalition, there are several possible scenarios, none of which look particularly promising for Merkel: Minority government Merkel's CDU — and the SPD, if they agree to it — could attempt to continue ruling without a majority in parliament, but they would need to continually seek partners in the opposition in order to pass legislation, as a majority is required. During the lengthy talks to form the current coalition, Merkel said she'd rather call for a new election than opt for a minority government, meaning she won't likely be keen on taking this route. Forming a new coalition The CDU and the SPD could also start searching for a new coalition partner to fill the gap left by the CSU. They could possibly strike a deal with either the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) or the environmentalist Greens. However, Merkel's position as chancellor would likely be up for grabs during negotiations. Voting out Merkel The technically legal but unlikely third option could see Merkel facing a vote of no confidence in the Bundestag. Should the CSU abandon the CDU, there would technically be a majority in parliament against the chancellor. However, the other parties would need to also simultaneously propose a new candidate — an unlikely option considering the divides between them. New elections Should Merkel's government break down, this could pave the way for the dissolution of parliament and new elections in Germany. The process to call for new elections is complicated, but it's an option that Merkel previously said she prefers to ruling in a minority government. Should President Steinmeier decide to dissolve parliament, a new election would have to take place within 60 days. Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.<doc-sep>German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has confirmed his offer to resign both from the Cabinet and as CSU leader within the next three days, after unexpectedly re-escalating his standoff with Chancellor Angela Merkel over Germany's asylum policy. But, according to reports from a crunch leadership meeting in Munich that stretched into early Monday morning, other senior party figures had tried to dissuade Seehofer from stepping down. A press conference that had been expected all evening was eventually postponed, before Seehofer appeared briefly before reporters to confirm the reports of his resignation offer. He did say, however, that he was going to seek one more talk with Merkel on Monday about asylum policy before deciding on his future. "In the interest of this country and the capacity of this government, which we want to maintain, we want to make an attempt to find an agreement on this central question of turning people away [at the German border]," he said. "Everything else will be decided afterward." Seehofer, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had said earlier that his talks with the chancellor on Saturday had "not had any effect" on their conflict. This was a direct contradiction of Merkel's account of the encounter, delivered in an interview with the public broadcaster ZDF on Sunday. Merkel argued that the deal reached by the European Union would have the same effect as the CSU's calls to start sending people away at the border if they had already applied for asylum in another EU member state. "The sum of everything we have decided has the same effect [as national measures]," she said. "That is my personal conclusion. Of course, the CSU will have to decide that for itself." Read more: Seehofer: CSU does not want to topple Merkel over migration spat Working together? The chancellor also said she had made concessions to Seehofer's demands. "I would like very much for the CDU and CSU to continue working together," she added. "Because we are a success story for Germany." The leaderships of the CDU and CSU met separately in Berlin and Munich on Sunday to discuss whether and how the two parties, which have been allied since 1949, will continue to work together. The CSU is facing a state election in Bavaria in October, and has opted to take a hard-line anti-immigration stance as its main campaign strategy. The move is part of an effort to defend the party's absolute majority in Bavaria's state parliament and win back voters from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). At the end of the AfD's party congress in Augsburg on Sunday, AfD politicians said the CSU's asylum policy changes didn't go far enough. The chancellor's claim that the CSU's demands had been fulfilled by the EU deal was contradicted by some CSU politicians entering the meeting in Munich, who maintained that it was up to the party to decide. There is also a difference of opinion between the parties about whether the EU deal allows unilateral action by member states on closing borders or not. Sunday's long-planned TV interview with Merkel — an annual event before parliament's summer recess — could barely have been scheduled at a more inconvenient moment for the chancellor, as at the same time the CDU was preparing to meet for vital talks across town in Berlin. She refused to comment on any speculative questions related to her asylum policy and the government crisis, preferring to wait until the CDU and CSU had concluded their talks. She vehemently defended the deals she had struck in Brussels last week, when she gave a number of concessions to other EU countries. But right-wing governments in Hungary and Poland have since said they have not reached any new deals on asylum. Where is the 'master plan'? The CDU leadership in Berlin was reduced to waiting for developments from CSU headquarters. Shortly after the reports of Seehofer's possible resignation, CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer appeared before reporters to reaffirm the party's commitment to Merkel's asylum policy. "Unilateral rejections [of asylum-seekers] would in our opinion be the wrong signal for our European partners," she said, before adding that the deals reached in Brussels provided a good basis for the reduction of migration. The interior minister's "master plan," which triggered the present German government crisis just over two weeks ago, would see asylum-seekers who had already been registered elsewhere being shut out of Germany — a potential breach of EU law and the Geneva Convention on refugees' rights. Read more: Europe's Schengen Area: What you need to know After Merkel rejected the plan, Seehofer set the chancellor a deadline of July 1 to find a "European solution" to the issue of "secondary migration," referring to asylum-seekers crossing internal EU borders after having already applied elsewhere in the EU. Though the master plan remains unpublished, it emerged on Sunday evening that Seehofer had handed it out at the CSU meeting, though it had not been made available to the CDU leadership in Berlin. Photos of individual pages of the plan were circulated on Twitter, which confirmed that Seehofer still intended to turn asylum-seekers away. When Merkel rejected the plan two weeks ago, Seehofer threatened to unilaterally implement his border control measures, using his authority as interior minister over the federal police. In turn, Merkel threatened to overrule him. NGO ship rescues Europe-bound migrants in Mediterranean First on site At around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 31, the search-and-rescue vessel Aquarius, along with the Libyan coast guard, was alerted by the Italian Rescue Maritime Coordination Center (IMRCC) that a rubber boat was in distress in international waters. Aquarius is manned by rescue workers from SOS Mediteranee, medics from Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and a nautical and technical crew. NGO ship rescues Europe-bound migrants in Mediterranean People in distress Aquarius made first contact with the rubber boat in international waters at around 11:00 a.m. Soon after, the SOS head coordinator was informed by IMRCC that the Libyan coastguard would take charge of the rescue operation.<doc-sep>Germany's interior minister has offered his resignation after a conflict with Angela Merkel over migration policy, party figures say. Horst Seehofer has been at odds with the chancellor over her approach to mass migration. He has threatened to turn away some categories of asylum seekers at the German border while Mrs Merkel has sought a European solution. Sources in Mr Seehofer's party - Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU) - said he wanted to "step down" as interior minister and chairman of his party, as he enjoys "no support". The CSU tried for weeks to get Mrs Merkel to agree to reject asylum seekers at the border if they had already registered in other countries or to get a similar deal from the European Union by 1 July. Advertisement Image: Angela Merkel and interior minister Horst Seehofer Mr Seehofer complained in Sunday's closed meeting with party bosses that his conversation with the chancellor had "no effect", sources said. Germany's DPA news agency reported that some members of Mr Seehofer's party were trying to change his mind on the resignation. It is not clear what effect Mr Seehofer's resignation could have on Mrs Merkel's government, which has looked increasingly precarious during the three-week stand-off. The CSU and Mrs Merkel's CDU (Christian Democratic Union) have been allies since 1949 but the CSU faces a state election in Bavaria in October, and its anti-immigration stance is its main campaign platform.<doc-sep>
Bavarian CSU leader and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said he would rather resign from both of his posts than back down in his severe rift with Chancellor Angela Merkel over Germany’s migration policy, local media report. While Seehofer, who has spearheaded the opposition to Merkel’s approach to tackling immigration problems, has not officially submitted his resignation, sources at a closed Christian Social Union presidency meeting told German media that he had made such a proposal and that other party members were trying to change his mind. A CSU press conference planned for Sunday night has, meanwhile, been cancelled, with Seehofer reportedly planning to make a final attempt at reconciliation with Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union on Monday. Read more According to reports, Seehofer sees few options for the CSU: Either to stand firm on the immigration dispute and risk undermining the ruling coalition, or to back down and damage the party’s credibility, reports Spiegel editor Melanie Amann. As a third option, the CSU leader reportedly offered to leave his post, possibly in an attempt to boost party members' support of his strategy. Seehofer had previously warned that, unless Merkel came up with a satisfactory EU-wide solution to dealing with migrants, he would use his power to make sure that asylum-seekers who applied for asylum in states other than those where they’d first entered, would be turned away at the border. Despite Seehofer wishing Merkel "much luck" ahead of her meeting with other EU members last week, his party has so far failed to approve the extremely vague immigration "compromise," which would ban Brussels from forcing states to set up migrant processing centers. Ealier, Merkel said she believed the compromise was in line with the requirements of the CSU. "The sum of all we've agreed is equivalent to what the CSU wants – that's my personal view, but the CSU must decide for themselves," she said, as quoted by Reuters. Read more "It is also sustainable and in accordance with the European ideal. Europe is slow, and we aren't yet where we want to be... In my view Europe will be held together, otherwise free movement could have been in danger," she added. But the disagreement with the immigration 'compromise' didn't only come from within Germany. Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic all stated that a final deal had not been reached, despite Merkel's claim that she had received "political consent" from 14 nations to strike a deal. Merkel's party is aiming to reach a deal which would satisfy voters in the upcoming Bavarian state election in October, in an attempt to prevent the right-wing and anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from making gains. The topic of immigration is a hot one in Bavaria, as the state is the main transit point into Germany for migrants. The leader of the Left party Katja Kipping accused CSU of taking "all Germany and Europe in hostage for an inner party power struggle." Like this story? Share it with a friend!