-Caveat Lector- >From Int'l Herald Tribune Paris, Tuesday, February 9, 1999 Schroeder Faces Risk Of Policy Paralysis Hesse Setback Gives Opposition a Chance To Produce Gridlock ------------------------------------------------------------------------ By William Drozdiak Washington Post Service ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BERLIN - With his government suddenly stripped of its majority in the upper house of Parliament, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Monday faced the dismal prospect that his legislative program may be paralyzed by the same kind of political gridlock that undermined his predecessor, Helmut Kohl. Less than four months after taking office, Mr. Schroeder's ruling Social Democrats and their partners, the Greens, were shocked Sunday when the opposition Christian Democrats scored an upset victory in the state of Hesse. The outcome tilts the balance of power in the upper house, the Bundesrat, in the opposition's favor and gives them a blocking majority. ''They will have to talk to us now when they want to pass a law,'' said Angela Merkel, general secretary of the Christian Democrats. ''That applies both for tax reforms and citizenship reform.'' During his successful campaign to oust Mr. Kohl from power after 16 years in office, Mr. Schroeder accused his rival of allowing Europe's most pivotal nation to stagnate by failing to enact legislation that would redress the country's most pressing problems. In his defense, Mr. Kohl claimed he was stymied by the Social Democrats, who held majority veto power in the Bundesrat. In the wake of the surprising results in Hesse, Mr. Schroeder now must cope with an agonizing dilemma. If he chooses to compromise with his opponents in the interest of pushing through some diluted reforms, he risks alienating his core constituencies. But if he sticks to the ambitious platform approved by his ruling coalition, he could fall victim to Mr. Kohl's plight and see his opponents freeze his legislative program in its tracks. The first challenge seems likely to occur over Mr. Schroeder's controversial plan to offer the possibility of dual citizenship to the seven million foreigners living in Germany. The Christian Democrats displaced the Social Democrats as Hesse's largest party largely on the strength of a petition campaign, signed by more than one million people, that objected to the dual citizenship plan. The Social Democrats angrily accused their opponents of exploiting xenophobic sentiments to secure their winning margin because they were bereft of vote-winning arguments on the economic front. The Social Democrats and Greens achieved a relatively successful record in ruling Hesse over the past eight years - it now enjoys the highest incomes and highest level of foreign investments of Germany's 16 states. But many Germans, in Hesse and elsewhere, have become alarmed by the growing influx of foreigners who have slowly transformed the identity of the country. Germany now plays host to more foreigners than any other country in Europe; in some cities, such as the financial capital Frankfurt, foreigners now account for up to one-third of the population. The Christian Democrats effectively played on those fears by insisting the dual citizenship law would provide unfair advantages to the foreign population and encourage a further wave of immigrants by attracting the extended families of Turks and other foreign workers who settled here. ''It was completely irresponsible, the way the conservatives manipulated the voters on the citizenship reform issue with their campaign of fear,'' said Ottmar Schreiner, the party manager of the Social Democrats. ''We underestimated how far they would go to agitate the people.'' Mr. Schreiner said the Christian Democrats were fanning xenophobic sentiments by pushing a petition drive that was endorsed by rightist extremist parties that are connected to neo-Nazi movements. Gunda Roestel, a leader of the Greens party, which suffered a 4 percent drop in support in Hesse, charged the Christian Democrats with waging ''a highly immoral campaign'' and warned that its slide to the right on the citizenship issue could end up legitimizing extremist and anti-democratic tendencies. But Oskar Lafontaine, the leader of the Social Democrats, said the party needed to absorb the lessons of the Hesse election - the first of seven state elections this year in Germany - and, if necessary, carry out a course correction in dealing with volatile issues like immigration and citizenship. ''We need to draw the consequences from this,'' Mr. Lafontaine said. ''We need to find a compromise that can satisfy the needs of millions of long-term foreign residents, but at the same time does not whip up anti-foreign sentiment among native Germans.'' ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! 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