German junior party to challenge Merkel on taxes
Berlin (dpa) - The junior party in Germany′s ruling coalition affirmed Monday plans to challenge German Chancellor Angela Merkel more aggressively over fiscal and health policy.
The Merkel government has squabbled for three months over key policies. The pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), which has suffered plunging popularity ratings, charged the problem was that the government was not deciding things quickly enough.
The FDP general secretary, Christian Lindner, said, "There won′t be any speed limit."
He said the party would draft and publicize its own policies to change taxation law by April. It would also set out next month how to fix yawning municipal deficits in Germany. The FDP would also say how to restructure Germany′s public health insurance system.
The FDP, led by German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, has been in crisis for weeks, with German opposition parties hammering Westerwelle with allegations that the party is mainly a voice for special interests.
While Westerwelle has gained the ear of world leaders on trips abroad, he has been accused at home of offering little inspiration. The opposition has been gentler with Merkel, and her popularity ratings remain robust.
Any emphasis on the differences between FDP policies and the views of Merkel′s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Christian Social Union (CSU) partner is expected to further divide the Merkel cabinet.
The CDU maintained studied composure Monday, with the party′s general secretary, Hermann Groehe, saying the Merkel party would not set out its own tax policy before it received revenue estimates in May, but would listen to what the FDP had to say.
"As is usual among coalition partners, we′ll study it with good will," he said.
A week ago, Merkel said in a news interview she was expecting a "difficult" time ahead managing the ruling coalition. Germany has been run for decades by multi-party coalitions, which usually try to keep their internal policy disagreements out of the limelight.
Speaking after a late Sunday meeting of key leaders and a Monday session with the FDP′s national board, Lindner said he hoped the CDU and CSU did not react to the new approach with "power plays."
Rainer Bruederle, the economics minister, also issued a veiled warning to Merkel not to block FDP policies accepted in a joint accord on coalition policy, saying, "Faithfulness to the accord places obligations on both sides."
The FDP insistence on setting out out its tax policies in April undercuts a top-level agreement three weeks ago to hold back any mention of fiscal austerity till after a state legislative election in North Rhine Westphalia state on May 9.
The disarray in the Westerwelle party is marked by opinion surveys suggesting its national support has fallen to 8 per cent, far below the 14.6 per cent of the national vote it won in the German general election last September.
That plunge has encouraged speculation that Merkel′s party may try to align itself with Germany′s anti-nuclear Greens party instead.
In what was seen as a significant move, a CDU minister, Norbert Roettgen, at environment, affirmed that nuclear power generation was no more than an "interim technology" and was no its way out.
Through a spokesman, Merkel promptly said Monday he was right. Roettgen′s remarks indicated he was not planning any drastic relaxation of Germany′s statutory timetable to shut down all 19 nuclear power reactors in the country over the next decade.
The FDP and right-wing elements among the Christian Democrats favour a broad renaissance in nuclear energy in Germany. dpa jbp ds