Amid unrelenting criticism, Chancellor Angela Merkel's tenuous governing coalition will meet on Sunday to renegotiate the fate of former domestic intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maassen. Merkel is set to meet with CSU leader Horst Seehofer and Social Democrat leader Andrea Nahles for another shot at a compromise, Deutsche Welle reported.
Maassen came under fire last week for questioning the validity of a video that showed a far-right mob chasing foreigners in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, and for his links to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Amid calls for his resignation, Merkel's coalition removed Maassen from his post, but relocated him to a higher level job with higher pay.
The move drew outrage across the political spectrum. A weekend survey by pollster Emnid for German weekly Bild am Sonntag showed that in the aftermath, some 67 percent of Germans no longer believe the three coalition leaders can work together. Nonetheless, a majority of the public is against the break up of the government and new elections, which effectively puts greater pressure on coalition leaders to make things work.
