German Education Minister resigns over plagiarism charges

German Education Minister Annette Schavan has tendered her resignation after her former university stripped her of doctorate degree over plagiarism charges.

Schavan, one of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s closest allies, announced her resignation on Saturday, only four days after the University of Dusseldorf withdrew her doctorate, which was completed in 1980.
The university ruled she had “systematically and intentionally” plagiarized parts of her dissertation.
The 57-year-old German politician reiterated her vow to fight the university’s ruling, saying she did not want these claims to damage the ministry and the government.
She told reporters on Saturday in Berlin: “I think today is the right day to leave my ministerial post and to concentrate on my duties as a member of parliament.”
On January 24, the university opened an investigation into the allegations after a board of monitors found questionable passages on 60 of the 351 pages of her dissertation.
The review was started after an unknown blogger raised the plagiarism claims last year, which the minister has strongly denied.
Merkel said she had accepted the resignation “with a heavy heart,” adding education politician Johanna Wank will take in Schavan’s role.
The issue is considered a major blow to Merkel’s conservative government in about eight months before the country’s federal elections.