Chancellor Schröder Unveils his Party’s Election Platform

Gerhard Schröder said the German electorate must decide whether it wants to continue on the path of reform set by the Social Democrats (SPD), or take a step backward to the "people and politics of yesterday," referring to conservative candidate Edmund Stoiber.

He delivered his party’s platform in front of a blue backdrop on which "The Politics of the Middle" was written in bold white letters—and "middle" is what the campaign is all about.

First in the political sense, since Schröder will try to position the SPD as the party of the political center, and his CDU/CSU opponents as over somewhere in the right wing.

Secondly, "middle" applies here in the personal sense. In this election, Gerhard Schröder himself will be the centre of attention, not his party which is trailing the CDU/CSU in the polls.

The election platform document was passed unanimously on Tuesday evening after a three-hour meeting with the party’s executive committee. The SPD’s left-wing had initially voiced objections to parts of the platform but after some concessions in the area of unemployment benefits they threw in their support.

Will Stay with the Greens—maybe

Schröder defended the record of his governing coalition with the Green Party, saying it had done a good job since 1998. He said the coalition would continue, but only if both the Greens and the SPD get the votes they need to form a majority in parliament.

But he did not rule out other possible ruling constellations, for example a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats, the FDP.

"It’s always good to keep your options open," Schröder said.

Schröder did rule out forming a governing coalition with the Party of Democratic Socialism, the PDS, the successor party to East Germany’s communists. The SPD has governed with the PDS in several eastern states, but the PDS is largely unpalatable to voters in the western part of the country.

Platform points

The SPD pledged to continue to tackle the problem of unemployment. The topic is expected to be a major one in the campaign and a weak point for Schröder.

Families figured high in the platform. Schröder annouced the party wanted to gradually increase of money parents received from the state for each child they have. Currently that stands at € 154 ($ 137) for the first and second child. The SPD wants to raise that amount to € 200 ($ 178). Single parents could also expect more favourable tax conditions.

The platform promises to free small business from burdensome bureaucracy, but keeps the ecology tax, which business largely dislikes, in place.

In response to Germany’s poor school performance in recent international comparisons, the platform supports opening more "all-day" schools, as opposed to those which currently let students out at midday

Harsh Criticism

The opposition was quick to pounce upon the platform. Christian Democratic Party head Angela Merkel (photo)announced it to be a "document of helplessness".

She said Schröder had squandered the chance the voters had given him in 1998, that he had no ideas for tackling Germany’s high unemployment rate or the continuing schism between east and west.

She said the SPD slogan "Chancellor, Concepts, Competence" was telling. "Competence is in last place," she said.

The fact that "Chancellor" is in first place doesn’t sit well with everybody either. But Lower Saxony’s premier Siegmar Gabriel defended putting the spotlight on Schröder instead of the party.

"People trust Schröder," he told German television. "Why shouldn’t we take advantage of that?"