BERLIN: The front-runner to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany's September election has apologized for a scene in which he was seen laughing in the background as the country's president delivered a statement on the devastating floods in western Germany.
Armin
Laschet
, the candidate of Merkel's center-right Union bloc to be Germany's next leader, is also the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia state - one of two badly hit by last week's floods. On Saturday, he visited the town of Erfstadt, which was the scene of a dramatic rescue effort after the ground gave way, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
While Steinmeier gave a statement to reporters after the visit, Laschet and a group of others stood in the background. Photos showed him turning to someone else and laughing.
Lars Klingbeil
, the general secretary of the center-left Social Democrats, told Sunday's
Bild am Sonntag
newspaper that Laschet's behavior was ``lacking in decency and appalling.''
``They say that people's character shows in times of crisis,'' he added.
Laschet took to
Twitter on Saturday evening to explain himself and thank Steinmeier for his visit.
``The fate of those affected, which we heard about in many conversations, is important to us,'' he wrote. ``So I regret all the more the impression that arose from a conversational situation. That was inappropriate and I am sorry.''
The Union bloc currently leads polls ahead of the environmentalist Greens, with the Social Democrats in third place. The election is on Sept. 26.
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