A member of the German central bank's board is threatening to go to court to prevent his dismissal for controversial remarks on Muslim immigrants that led the board to vote to fire him with the support of Germany's top leaders.

In extracts from an interview with the news weekly Focus released on Saturday ahead of publication, Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin likened a wave of criticism of him to a "political show trial."

He said if German President Christian Wulff approved his sacking in the next few days, the decision would be overturned by the justice system.

The president will have to consider carefully whether he "wants to see this political show trial to its end, and then see (his decision) thrown out by the courts," Sarrazin said.

Brand new in office, Wulff’s first reaction was to run for cover and askthe coaltion government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel to confer on the case before making a decision. 

Early on in the debate before its publication Merkel said the book was "not helpful." 

Sarrazin has previously courted controversy with remarks about Germany's Muslim population, and the latest furor erupted in the run-up to the publication of his new book Deutschland schafft sich ab (Germany does away with itself).

Sarrazin argues in the book that Muslims undermine German society, sponge off the state and threaten to change its character and culture with their higher birth rate.

Almost 3 million people of Turkish origin and an estimated 280,000 of Arab extraction live in Germany - in total about 4 percent of the population.

Amid a booming economy, the former West Germany encouraged waves of immigration from Turkey beginning in the 1960s to boost the domestic labor force. 

Rules designed to protect the Bundesbank's independence mean the German president's approval must be sought for the dismissal of a board member - something that has never happened since it was founded in 1957.

Chancellor Merkel, senior ministers and all of Germany's main political parties have rebuked Sarrazin, who belongs to the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).

But the public are divided, and a legal battle could further polarise opinion and embroil the government in controversy that it can ill afford.

Merkel's alliance of conservatives and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) trail well behind the leftist opposition parties after barely a year in power as they push an ambitious agenda of extending the lifespans of nuclear power plants, reforming healthcare and simplifying the income tax system.

In the latest ARD-DeutschlandTrend poll, 81 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with her government.

Meanwhile, Merkel sought Friday to limit the damage she says has been wrought by Sarrazin.

In an interview with Turkish daily Hurriyet, Merkel said that she could 'not accept' Sarrazin's view that there were too many immigrants, particularly of Muslim backgrounds, in Germany and that their presence was damaging the country.

But now she seems to be back-peddling. Speaking to German weekly Bild am Sonntag, Merkel said it would be wrong to play down statistics that show religious Muslim youths in Germany to be more prone to violence than the rest of the population.

"This is a big problem and we can talk about it openly, without arousing suspicions of xenophobia," Merkel said in the interview published on Sunday, September 5.

Independent experts said it was statistically indisputable that criminality, unemployment and dependance on government handouts were more widespread in the Turkish community than in other ethnic groups.

This, they content, is due mostly to the fact that many immigrants of Turkish backgrounds reject the values of their host country.

Merkel's latest comments reflect fears that the Sarrazin case is splitting society on a thorny issue that German mainstream politics has tried to avoid confronting head on. Now there’s no choice.

The starkest evidence of the split was the letter that the Social Democratic Party sent to members defending a decision to expell Sarrazin from their party. It was in response to a groundswell of support for the author.

"Either the Social Democrats have the wrong members, or the wrong leadership," quipped the host of the popular talk show, Hart aber Fair (Tough, but Fair), Frank Plasberg, on Thursday night.

Sarrazin's views have been condemned mostly by the political establishment, and his own center-left Social Democrats have moved to evict him from the party.

According to one study, one out of two Germans agrees with Sarrazin’s position that Germany has too many foreigners. Only 16 percent feel German and Muslims cultures are compatible, says social scientist Andreas Zick of Bielefeld University.

"You can get rid of Sarrazin, but not of the debate," said Necla Kelek,  who herself is a German of Turkish origin. Germany needed an open debate on immigration, she said.

According to a  survey published by Bild am Sonntag one in five Germans would vote for a party headed by Sarrazin. No such party exists; Sarrazin is a member of the oppositional SPD and says he intends to stay there - despite recent moves by the party leadership to oust him.

Asked if he was considering starting a new party, Sarrazin said during a talk show that he wasn't interested, and that previous attemps to start a new party failed.

For previous story on this subject, please click HERE