Thaindian News

BERLIN, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) — German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg on Tuesday resigned after being involved in a plagiarism scandal over his PhD, the DPA news agency reported.

“I informed the chancellor Angela Merkel in a very friendly conversation that I will withdraw from my political position and asked for a discharge,” Guttenberg said. “It is the most painful step in my life.”

Gutenberg added that he decided to resign as the media focus on him and his doctorate had diverted attention away from his role as defense minister while other subjects, such as the German soldiers fighting in Afghanistan was left aside.

“If, at the cost of the soldiers, the debate is only about my person, I cannot take responsibility for this. The office of defense minister required undivided concentration and faultless work,” Guttenberg added.

The successor of Guttenberg is expected to be selected within the ranks of the Christian Social Union or within Merkel’s Christian Democrats, their national allies. The popular Guttenberg was seen as the potential successor of Chancellor Merkel.

However, after revelations surfaced indicating that he plagiarized large parts of his doctoral thesis in 2006, the 39-year-old minister was under intense political pressure despite being Germany’s most popular politician.

Guttenberg initially rejected plagiarism claims and only acknowledged that his thesis had footnotes mistakes. He renounced to his PhD while the University of Bayreuth deliberated on the issue.

“Without question it contains errors which upset me more than anybody else. But at no time was there deliberate deception or a deliberate obscuring of sources,” Guttenberg said. “If someone feels offended by this or by improper use or non-use of footnotes among 1,300 footnotes on 475 pages, I am sincerely sorry.”

The university later stripped Guttenberg from his degree after determining that his dissertation contained plagiarized material. Opposition social democrats said that despite his apologies, Guttenberg can no longer be trusted and called for his dismissal.

Guttenberg oversaw the drastic downsizing of Germany’s armed forces. In addition, he sacked the armed forces chief in 2009 and suspended a naval captain for alleged cruelty to trainees in January.