Comedian not amused

The German entertainer has injected a dollop of humor into a far from lively election campaign with the fake politician Schlaemmer, who has achieved poll ratings that many real-life politicians would give their eye teeth for.

Eighteen percent of people surveyed by the polling institute Forsa said they could imagine voting for Schlaemmer's party if it did actually exist. This despite Schlaemmer's highly unappealing exterior.

But now the funnyman fears that a right-wing party could use the popularity of his figure to gain votes in the September 27 ballot.

Kerkeling's lawyer Harro von Have said that the Republikaner (Republicans) had been issued with a warning on Friday and that his client was now seeking an injunction to stop the party political clip being aired again.

"It is absolutely inadmissible that a party is exploiting my client's popularity," the lawyer told Germany's mass-circulation Bild newspaper.

In the two-minute party political broadcast, Republikaner candidate Uschi Winkelsett says that, while she is not called Schlaemmer and is not standing for a fun party, her party would also be well-suited to receive 18 percent of the vote.

At the end of the commercial comes the slogan: "Vote for the Republikans. Freely adapted from Horst Schlaemmer: We're no worse than the others."

Kerkeling's movie "Isch kandidiere" (I'm Running for Chancellor) follows the scruffy print journalist-turned-candidate as he tries to drum up support. The film has been proving a hit with cinemagoers this summer.

Kerkeling told Bild that his lawyer had done everything possible to stop a further airing of the clip, which has already run three times on television, according to the newspaper. "It is now up to the courts to decide," he said.

jg/dpa/AP

Editor: Susan Houlton