German party presses lawmaker to quit over resume lies

BERLIN – One of Germany’s governing parties is pressing a lawmaker to quit Parliament after it emerged that she lied about her academic qualifications.

Lawyers for Petra Hinz, a lawmaker for the centre-left Social Democrats since 2005, said last month she had made up significant parts of her resume — and had neither taken legal examinations nor even graduated from high school as she claimed. They said she would give up her parliamentary seat.

Hinz’s local party branch in the western city of Essen called on her to quit Parliament by Wednesday, though it can’t force her.

Local party chief Thomas Kutschaty said Hinz sent an email Thursday saying she was giving up her party posts but hadn’t yet given up the parliamentary seat. He appealed to her to do so immediately.

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