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Political Views Political Views German Social Democrat aims to salvage battered campaign
Political Views Political Views German Social Democrat aims to salvage battered campaign
| German Social Democrat aims to salvage battered campaign |
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| Written by Administrator |
| Monday, 15 June 2009 17:06 |
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Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is trying to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel in the election, attacked her Christian Democratic party and the "ideology" that inspired it. He said the Social Democrats (SPD) would show workers what they might suffer if a centre-right alliance took over from the current broad coalition of SPD and the Christian Democrats, who include the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU). "I take the worries of the people seriously. I know damned well what's up," he said. "We'll fight for the woman shop assistant and the building worker. But at the same time, we'll remain the party of the new centrism." The Social Democrats, who expect to emerge from the general election as Germany's dominant party, were shocked a week ago when their candidates won only 21 per cent of the vote in the European Parliament elections, as against 31 per cent for the CDU. As the anointed SPD candidate for the chancellorship, deputy SPD leader Steinmeier is widely seen as having an uphill struggle to convince Germans to tip Merkel out of office in the September 27 poll. Steinmeier, who has faced criticism that his style is not aggressive enough, told the party congress in Berlin the SPD would attack the fundamental policies of Merkel's supporters and those of the opposition Free Democratic Party (FDP), a potential Merkel ally. "One reason they shouldn't win a majority is that the ideology that got us into this crisis is definitely not the answer to the crisis," he told the 500 delegates, who broke into cheers. (dpa) |