Opponents of welfare cuts demonstrated on Saturday against the proposed new German government, which they fear will target social programs as it scrambles to plug a massive budget deficit.
It rained at times in Berlin and turnout appeared far short of organizers' forecast of 10,000 -- contrasting with huge crowds that protested benefit cuts last year.
At a separate event, conservative Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel said she was confident of agreeing soon on a coalition that will "find solutions" to Germany's problems.
Germany's Sept. 18 election gave neither center-left nor center-right alliances a parliamentary majority, forcing Merkel's conservatives and outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats into talks on a left-right "grand coalition."
The alliance will require painful compromises as they seek to boost the sluggish economy and cut unemployment.
Demonstrators converged on Berlin's signature Brandenburg Gate with placards demanding politicians keep their "hands off wages and pensions" and urging them to "fight unemployment, not the unemployed."
Protesters fear a deepening of Schroeder's 2-year-old "Agenda 2010" of welfare-state and labor market reforms, which included benefit cuts for the long-term jobless.
"They are going to make massive cuts, mainly affecting the little people," said demonstrator Roger Stamm, 52, a health and safety official from the western city of Bonn.
He charged that the emerging government stands for "the further destruction of the social security system."
He cited possible moves to increase value-added tax and scrap tax breaks, along with the prospect of pensions being frozen.
Negotiators hope to complete a coalition agreement over the next week, in time for Merkel to take office on Nov. 22, but are still working on plans to close a budget gap of US$42 billion.
Speaking in Bonn on Saturday, Merkel expressed confidence over prospects of a deal within a week.
"We want a `grand coalition' ... one that has Germany's problems in its sights and finds solutions," she said.
Another senior conservative, Christian Wulff, signaled discontent in an interview released earlier on Saturday, said that "we have got our way too little so far."
The two sides are at odds over whether to loosen Germany's labor laws to make it easier for small firms to fire unneeded workers -- a key plank of Merkel's election campaign.
For the longer term, they are discussing sweeping tax reforms and a step-by-step increase in the retirement age from 65 to 67.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was