Germans were voting in a tight race yesterday between conservative challenger Angela Merkel, who has pledged to reform the moribund economy and bring Germany closer to the US, and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who has touted his country's role as a European leader and counterbalance to the US.
Merkel began the day with a good chance of becoming the country's first female chancellor. But whether a victory would give the former physicist the convincing mandate she needs to forge ahead with tax and labor market reforms remained unknown.
For some voters, her plan to patch up relations with Washington, which frayed after Schroeder's refusal to back the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, has resonated, as has her position that Turkey should not be allowed full membership in the 25-nation EU.
"A country like Turkey just doesn't belong in the European community," voter Torsten Quade, 41, said. "We're already going to let in countries like Romania and Bulgaria, and this is already too much because of how far behind they are."
But other voters said they wanted Schroeder and his Social Democrats to stay in power because of his efforts to keep the country out of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and his push for diplomacy with Iran.
"When you have a son coming of military age, this makes it even more important to vote for a government that isn't eager to go to war," said Stefan Deutscher, a 38-year-old business consultant, who voted in Berlin.
He said he blamed Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, for the high unemployment in Germany -- currently at 11.4 percent -- saying: "I dislike the CDU because they passed on a messed-up country to the current government and are now blaming them for it."
The CDU, with Helmut Kohl as its chancellor, led Germany from 1982-1998, during which the country was reunited and unemployment began to rise.
In his hometown of Hannover, Schroeder and his wife, Doris, voted as photographers and cameramen recorded the moment.
The couple walked to the polling place inside a school near their home. She was optimistic about a win by the Social Democratic Party, or SPD, noting that the good weather was an omen.
"My husband always says if the sun is happy, then the SPD has it made." Schroeder did not speak to reporters after he voted.
Merkel cast her vote in Berlin, joined by her husband, chemist Joachim Sauer. Neither spoke to reporters who trailed the pair.
If Merkel's Christian Democrats cannot win a majority with her preferred partners -- the small, pro-business Free Democrats -- she could be forced to share power in a coalition with Schroeder's Social Democrats.
The most recent poll, carried out by the Forsa institute between Monday and Friday, put support for the Christian Democrats at between 41 and 43 percent, with the Free Democrats between 7 and 8 percent. That left it very much open whether they would win a majority in parliament.
If they do, Merkel -- aided by her party's control of the upper house of parliament -- will be able to move ahead with proposals to streamline the tax system, make it easier for small companies to fire people and loosen the rigid labor market in a bid to tackle unemployment and the troublingly low rates of economic growth.
If they do not garner a majority, many think Merkel's party would have to form a "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats, probably without Schroeder, which would likely tame her plans.
also see story:
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a