A note on the federal parliament's page confirmed that Tobias Zech had "renounced his membership in the 19th convocation of the German Bundestag," effective 19 March.
This comes after German Der Spiegel magazine reported that Bavarian’s political consultancy firm lobbied in 2016 for the party of former North Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski.
Following the allegations, Zech reportedly wrote to his friends in the conservative CSU, the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, saying he would step down from all his present positions.
"To avoid any potential prejudice, I have decided to resign my seat in the Bundestag and my party positions out of my own free will," he explained in a letter, quoted by the Munchner Merkur daily.
The paper said that shortly before his departure the 39-year-old initiated an inquiry by the CSU ethics commission into a possible conflict of interests that resulted from his actions.
"This investigation continues," CSU Secretary General Markus Blume told the daily, praising Zech’s resignation as "the only right step."
Three members of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group quit recently over accusations of lobbying for foreign interests and taking bribes from mask manufacturers that sought to secure lucrative government contracts.
