BERLIN, 4 October 2005 — German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said for the first time yesterday that he would be prepared to forfeit his claim to lead the next government in the interest of forming a coalition with the conservatives.
But his Social Democratic Party (SPD) insisted they were not ready to cave in and would attempt to see the charismatic chancellor confirmed for a third term, as the bitter power struggle with his rival Angela Merkel raged on.
As Germany marked the 15th anniversary of its reunification amid one of the worst political crises in its postwar history, Schroeder said he would accept any decision his party made on whether he should insist on continuing as chancellor after an inconclusive general election.
“This is not about my prerogatives and absolutely not about me as a person,” Schroeder said ahead of a meeting of his Social Democrats when asked about his and Merkel’s competing claims to the chancellery.
“It is about my party’s prerogative for political leadership and only the party leaders can decide on that. I will accept any decision. I do not want to stand in the way of a development that allows the continuation of the (economic) reforms I initiated and the formation of a stable government in Germany.”
But SPD leader Franz Muentefering, a loyal Schroeder ally, said the party had no plans to dump him and would hold their ground, at least until coalition negotiations formally begin. The Social Democrats had huddled after the final district in Germany voted against them Sunday in a delayed ballot for the general election, widening the lead of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) in Parliament to four seats.
The vote in the eastern city of Dresden was expected to have a psychological impact on the exploratory talks on forming a left-right “grand coalition,” last seen in Germany in the late 1960s, and particularly on the burning question of who should be head of government. The SPD and the conservatives are to meet tomorrow for a third round of talks on whether to begin formal negotiations on a grand coalition.
Merkel has said that the Christian Democrats will not start such negotiations until Schroeder’s party has recognized their right to choose the chancellor.
