[Nasional-e] Schroeder victory dampened by U.S

[Ambon]

 Schroeder victory dampened by U.S.

John Schmid International Herald Tribune Tuesday, September 24, 2002

Rumsfeld notes a 'poisoning' of ties; German justice minister steps down

FRANKFURT Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder celebrated a narrow re-election
victory for his center-left coalition Monday and started trying to repair
seriously damaged relations with the United States by announcing that his
justice minister was stepping down after she enraged the White House by
reportedly comparing President George W. Bush's tactics to those of Hitler.
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Schroeder was elected to a second term after a come-from-behind campaign
that left the coalition of his Social Democrats and the Greens with 306
seats in the Bundestag. This gave his coalition 9 more than the 295 in the
conservative-led opposition and the 2 won by the former Communists.
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The coalition owed its victory to a surprisingly strong showing by the
Greens, as the Social Democrats lost support from the previous election four
years ago.
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The victorious mood was dampened by fresh criticism from Washington, which
has been unhappy over Schroeder's strong opposition to a possible U.S. war
on Iraq.
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The U.S. defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, reiterated the American
position that Schroeder's campaign "has had the effect of poisoning the
relationship" between the United States and Germany.
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Schroeder's refusal to support a war in Iraq helped him come back to win
after he had trailed for months in a stagnant economy hobbled by high
unemployment.
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Seeking to start putting things right with Washington, the chancellor
announced that the justice minister, Herta Daeubler-Gmelin, was leaving his
government. She had been reported to have likened Bush's efforts to distract
the public from domestic problems to those of Hitler.
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But Schroeder showed little deviation from his Iraq position in the
campaign.
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"We have nothing to change from what we said before the election and we will
not change anything," Schroeder said at a press briefing.
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Schroeder will govern with a reduced majority, as his Social Democrats fell
2.4 percentage points from the previous election to win 38.5 percent of the
vote. They were in a virtual dead heat with the conservatives, who gained
3.4 points to have an identical 38.5 percent result. Official figures showed
the Social Democrats with a lead of only 8,864 votes.
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It was the unexpected surge by the Greens, led by their charismatic foreign
minister, Joschka Fischer, that cemented Schroeder's "Red-Green"
administration. The Greens posted their best showing ever, some 8.6 percent,
well above their 6.7 percent showing four years ago, making them the
nation's third-largest party.
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Opposition leaders vowed to exploit Schroeder's razor-thin majority in
Parliament and presaged a continuation of the legislative bottlenecks that
had accompanied Schroeder's first term. "I predict that this Schroeder
government will rule for only a very short time," said Edmund Stoiber, the
defeated chancellor candidate for the Christian Democratic ticket.
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Stoiber's hopes winning were dashed in large part by a poor performance by
his likely coalition partner, the small, pro-business Free Democratic Party.
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The Free Democrats suffered an electoral humiliation, winning only 7.4
percent, which was insufficient for Stoiber to form the next government.
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Taking partial blame for the Free Democrats' disappointing results, Juergen
Moellemann resigned his post as vice chairman Monday because his
pronouncements during the election opened the party to accusations of
anti-Semitism.
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Moellemann sparked the most recent uproar last week when he mailed a
campaign flyer out to voters that criticized Israeli and German-Jewish
leaders.
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But Moellemann, known for his penchant for publicity, vowed to keep his seat
in the Bundestag and his post as the Free Democratic state party chairman in
North Rhine-Westphalia.
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Moellemann said he was satisfied with the votes he delivered in his home
state, where he circulated the brochure.
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The Free Democrats' chairman, Guide Westerwelle, said that Moellemann was
the main reason for the party's low tallies.
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Schroeder, whose previous government nearly collapsed several times over
disputes with the anti-war, pro-environment Greens party, promised to wrap
up coalition talks with the Greens within three weeks.
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"It starts immediately, in fact today," Schroeder said of the coalition
talks.
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Analysts expect tension as the Greens reinforce their demands for their
"ecology taxes" on gasoline and heating oil, which business leaders opposed,
and for further promotion of renewable energy. Their strong pacifist streak
could also curtail Schroeder's ambitions of giving Germany a greater say in
world policy.
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Strengthened by the election, the Greens go into the coalition talks with
newfound confidence. Schroeder had forced many of their more ideological
members over the past four years to set aside their principles in favor of
German military deployments and centrist economic policy.
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"That is why we were elected - as a strong Greens motor of reform in a
Red-Green constellation," Fischer said.
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For domestic politics, the day-after focus shifted quickly back to the
economy. Business leaders urged Schroeder to redouble his administration's
efforts to deregulate Germany's economy, the third largest in the world.
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Schroeder, however, offered no new economic or social reforms after his
re-election. He repeated that his main initiative remained a catalog of
measures meant to accelerate job placement by the state-run Federal Labor
Office.
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The nation's powerful unions issued warnings that they would oppose any
efforts to reduce unemployment benefits, a move that some of Schroeder's own
advisers urge as a way to reduce out-of-control deficit spending and create
welfare-to-work incentives. The head of the giant Verdi public-sector union,
Frank Bsirske, lashed out at Schroeder's tight-budget policies, calling for
"an expansion of state spending, not a restriction."
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In foreign policy, the top priority was relations with Washington. Rumsfeld,
speaking during a visit to Poland, became the second senior Bush
administration official to speak of a "poisoned" diplomatic environment
after Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, used the term to
condemn Daeubler-Gmelin's comments.
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"I have no comment on the German election outcome, but I would have to say
that the way it was conducted was notably unhelpful," Rumsfeld said.
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While both Schroeder and Fischer both appeared with wide grins and clear
good humor on Monday, both were visibly wearied by the repeated questions
about U.S.-German ties. Schroeder cut off one question on U.S. Iraqi policy
during his press briefing and refused to give an answer.
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"It also must be possible as part of a friendship to have factually
different views," Schroeder said. "These differing views, I think, will
remain."
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Every third job in Germany relies on exports, and business leaders urged
Schroeder to waste no time in repairing ties to the United States. "Maybe
Schroeder and Fischer should just get right into the airplane," and fly to
Washington, said Gerhard Handke of the Association of German Wholesalers.
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The German Retailers Federation said, "The election is over. Now it's time
to act. Tax cuts, reform of the social security system and liberalization of
the labor market are urgently needed."
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Ludwig Braun, president of the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry,
said, "The government has to give signals that will win back trust among
companies."