JEDDAH, 20 September 2005 — German expatriates across the Kingdom were disappointed yesterday over the poll results that left the country in limbo and triggered a crisis that will take weeks to end. With the situation still fluid German nationals here were wondering who their new chancellor will be.
“The situation is confused with both conservative leader Angela Merkel and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder claiming the right to rule following Sunday’s election,” Werner K. Koch, national after-sales manager at Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors-BMW, said. “I hope something positive will emerge soon,” Koch said, adding that he had voted in the election by mail.
Expats watched the live election coverage relayed by German TV and arranged by the Consulate General of Germany here. There are about 400 German expats in Jeddah and adjoining areas. Some of the expats said they had recently been home on vacation and had cast their votes on Sunday before coming here. Some 61.9 million Germans were entitled to vote for a new Bundestag, German’s federal parliament.
The results left Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Schroeder’s Social Democrats as the only two parties with enough seats to form a coalition together. Each promptly staked claim to power. “This has made the situation uncertain, thus adding to the problems the country is facing,” a German business executive said from Dammam.
Expats in general said they were in favor of Schroeder continuing as their country’s head as he had come up with some reforms that would “sooner or later” deliver the goods.
“The most urgent problem facing the country is unemployment,” Hans Joachim Berg, headmaster at the German School-Jeddah, said. “With the number of unemployed soaring to five million, anybody heading the government will have this problem to tackle,” Berg said.
Echoing the sentiment was Heike Matheis, an accountant at the German School. “One way of tackling the problem is to create small jobs like you have jobs in supermarkets here where there are extra hands to fill the bags with purchases,” she said.
“We need a visionary leader at this stage,” Johannes Goetz, general manager at Western Bakeries Co. Ltd., Jeddah, said. “We need labor reforms and many other reforms to be implemented if we as a nation must become competitive in the world economy,” Goetz said. “The Social Democrats have come up with reforms in seven years, but they have not been popular,” he said.
A German lady from Riyadh said that in the event of a grand coalition the Social Democrats might force Merkel to water down her proposals. “Schroeder opposes further income tax cuts and plans to make it easier for companies to fire staff and opt out of nationwide pay agreements.”
On behalf of the consulate, Consul General Dr. Hubert Lang and Consul Lars Hohnheit oversaw the arrangements as TV sets were beaming the election progress and analysis. The consul general, who assumed charge a few months ago, said he would continue to operate from his residence since all consular services were being offered at the embassy in Riyadh.
