GERMAN LAWMAKER TO QUIT AFTER HIS FIRM PROFITED FROM MASKS

A lawmaker with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party said Sunday he will give up his seat in parliament and leave politics after it emerged that his company profited from deals to procure masks early in the pandemic — drawing sharp criticism in an election year, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

Nikolas Loebel, a backbench lawmaker with Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, was blasted by members of his own party and opponents after it emerged Friday that a company he runs earned commissions of 250,000 euros (nearly $300,000) from brokering contracts to buy masks.

Saying that he should have been “more sensitive,” Loebel admitted that he had made a mistake and gave up his seat on parliament’s foreign affairs committee.

That wasn’t enough for critics — particularly as his home state of Baden-Wuerttemberg elects a new regional legislature on March 14.

A national election in which Germans will choose a new parliament, and determine who succeeds Merkel, follows on Sept. 26.

On Sunday, Loebel said he will leave the Union bloc’s group in parliament immediately and give up his seat at the end of August. He apologized and said he won’t run in the September election, the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) news agency reported. “I am taking responsibility for my actions,” he said.

WEEKLY FEATURE : BONNER DYTOC SHOWS THE WAY IN STOCK PLAY