Excerpt:
His diatribe against immigrants and Muslims sold more than a million copies, making it Germany's bestselling non-fiction book in 2010. Since then, though, aside from the occasional public appearance, Thilo Sarrazin has largely faded from public attention in recent months. His pointed comments about Islam in Germany have become predictable. His periodic spats with the National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), stemming from attempts by the right-extremist party's efforts to appropriate his message, have garnered little attention.
Now though, Sarrazin, a former member of the board at Germany's central bank, is once again in the limelight. On Thursday, proceedings are set to get underway in Berlin which could result in Sarrazin's expulsion from the center-left Social Democrats, his life-long political home. Sarrazin is contesting the effort -- and the approaching battle is one that many in the SPD are not looking forward to.
At the peak of the Sarrazin controversy, the sky appeared to be the limit for the politician and many feared his views might pave the way for a new right-wing populist party in Germany modelled on those which have emerged in Scandinavia, the Netherlands and elsewhere in recent years. Unable to predict that the apparent Sarrazin ascent might eventually peter out, SPD leaders filed for proceedings to removed him from the party. Ironically, those proceedings could now push Sarrazin back into the public eye.