Hartz IV recipients must go through a complicated bureaucratic procedure to replace essential household items such as a refrigerator or television set.

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In a country that loves bureaucratic procedure, the constitution requires the tireless president to chair ceremonies, sign off documents and swear in officials, if anything is to progress.

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Or he could keep his pledge, and brand it a manipulator, while making sure that the bureaucratic procedure that would then follow did not lead to any actual retribution.

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