Bonn, May 7: The West German Chancellor, Mr. Willy Brandt, resigned suddenly last night over an espionage scandal. In his letter to the President, Mr. Gustav Heinemann, Mr. Brandt said he was resigning, assuming “the entire political responsibility” for the scandal involving his former personal aide, Guenter Guillaume, who was arrested on April 24 as a spy for East Germany.
Mr. Brandt asked the President to appoint the Foreign Minister, Mr. Walter Scheel, as the acting Chancellor, until a successor had been elected by the Bundestag (Parliament’s Lower House). Mr. Scheel is coincidentally the ruling coalition’s candidate to succeed Mr. Heinemann as the President. The election is scheduled for May 15.
The ruling Social Democratic Party met later and nominated the Finance Minister, Mr. Helmut Schmidt, to succeed Mr. Brandt. Mr. Heinz Kuehn, Deputy Chairman of the party, told newsmen that Mr. Brandt himself had proposed Mr. Schmidt as his successor. Mr. Brandt would, however, retain the Federal Chairmanship of the party. Mr. Schmidt (55) has been Finance Minister for two years and was Defence Minister under Mr. Brandt before that. A Social Democrat who stands to the right of his party Chairman politically, he has long been tipped as the man most likely to succeed him.
Known in Bonn as “Schmidt-schnauze (Schmidt the lip)“ for his articulate performances in parliamentary debates, he is known to feel that Bonn should represent West German interests more forcefully within the common market.
Shadow cast over Europe:
London, May 7: Mr. Willy Brandt’s resignation as West German Chancellor has cast a pale shadow on the political map of Europe to-day. The consequences for West Germany and for Europe — whose cause of unity Mr. Brandt had so long espoused — are unforseeable.
