Trick or treat
The German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder quits as party chairman in a move designed to free him to institute sweeping socio-economic reforms, writes Abdel-Azim Hammad from Berlin
Last Friday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder announced his decision to resign as leader of the country's ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP). "I will concentrate on my work as chancellor and head of government," Schroeder told reporters at a press conference in Berlin.
There have been precedents in German history of Schroeder's surprise move. Still, even though Schroeder followed in the footsteps of his political mentor, Willy Brandt -- one of Germany's most celebrated former socialist leaders -- in resigning from his post as SDP leader, there is a significant difference between Brandt's shrewd political move in the 1970s and Schroeder's much-constrained decision.
Brandt made a conscious choice to enforce a clear distinction between the position of chancellor and head of the ruling party. He did so in order to institute radical social and economic reforms. The two positions of party leader and leader of government were to be strictly separated. Schroeder, on the other hand, was virtually forced to make this move through a lack of other viable options, for he had never been a particularly popular leader within his party.
Schroeder's main problem is that he tries hard to placate both the stalwarts of his leftist party and the right-wing opposition. It is an impossibly difficult and thankless task. Schroeder's SDP enjoys a slim majority of only three seats in the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament. Meanwhile, the Bundesrat, or upper house of parliament, is overwhelmingly dominated by the right-wing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). According to the German constitution, no sweeping parliamentary reforms can be passed without the approval of the Bundesrat.
Schroeder wants to institute his so-called Agenda 2010 -- a programme of welfare cuts and labour market reforms. Significantly, leftists from the ranks of his own party and his governing coalition partners, the Greens, are incensed about the proposed reforms, while members of the rightist opposition parties have given their tacit approval.
Conversely, Schroeder has remained popular as chancellor. His main rival Oscar Lafontaine stepped down as both chairman of the SDP and finance minister after losing a power struggle with Schroeder in 1999. But the ruling SDP has suffered several serious setbacks in state elections last year. Lafontaine, who vociferously campaigned against the centre- right policies of Schroeder, has indicated in the past few days that he intends to run for the party leadership. Lafontaine has the backing of leftists in the SDP. Lafontaine's popularity will soon be put to the test in the upcoming elections in the tiny industrial state of Saarland, and then again when a special SDP party conference, set to be held in March, appoints a new party leader.
The current SDP parliamentary group leader Franz Muentefering took Schroeder's place as provisional party head. The Social Democrats are expected to have a tough time contesting state and local authority elections across the country between this February and September 2006. The Social Democrats did not fare well in the state elections in Bavaria, Bremen and Lower Saxony last year. With Schroeder's popularity waning, indicators point to poor election results for the SDP this year. Opinion polls show that only 24 per cent of German voters would support Schroeder if elections were to be held now.
Poor economic performance coupled with record unemployment levels, a growing balance of payment deficit, zero economic growth rates for the past two years, and rising inflation are largely to blame. Muentefering is seen as being more sympathetic to the cause of the poor, the working classes, the elderly and the unemployed than Schroeder, who boasts that his 2010 Agenda is the "most important reform since World War II".
For his part, Schroeder himself sees his resignation as an opportunity to be relieved of the pressure of leftists whom he accuses of trying to slow down or even abort his plans of radical socio-economic reform enshrined in his Agenda 2010. Schroeder is especially worried about the situation in the state of North Rhine Westphalia, populated by 18 million people. He does not want to see the Social Democrats perform badly in this important industrial state.
Responding to Schroeder's insistence on the need for a change in policies, not personalities, Edmund Stoiber, the governor of Bavaria and the CDU candidate for the chancery in the last elections, called for fresh general elections. "Somebody who cannot convince his own party will not be able to convince the people," Stoiber said. Angela Merkel, the chairwoman of the CDU concurred. "This is the beginning of the end for the federal chancellor," she said. "It is also the beginning of the end of this government."
