Schroeder fights pressure

2005-09-25 21:57

Berlin - Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday resisted mounting pressure to step aside to break the political deadlock gripping Germany following an inconclusive general election one week ago.

Schroeder said he saw no reason for now to relinquish his claim to a third term as German leader, despite his Social Democrats (SPD) losing the election by a narrow margin to conservative challenger Angela Merkel's Christian Union (CDU/CSU) alliance in the September 18 poll.

"There are no grounds at all to change my position just because some media and the Union are putting unseemly pressure (on me)," he said when asked if he still claimed the chancellery.

In his clearest statement on the issue to date, Schroeder said he strongly backed a left-right "grand coalition" grouping his Social Democrats and the CDU/CSU to lead Germany for the next four years.

"I support the formation of that coalition and will do everything I can to ensure it is created," he said.

He said the question of who would lead the country would only be resolved in the course of horse-trading to create a ruling coalition.

"One will then have to address this question and I am sure it will be resolved at that time," he said.

The conservatives turned up the heat on Schroeder on Sunday by saying they would only negotiate on forming a grand coalition if his SPD abandoned its hope of holding onto the chancellor's office.

Despite rampant speculation that the SPD might insist on Merkel being toppled as the price of its partnership in government, the general secretary of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, Volker Kauder, said there would be no deal without its leader.

"It must be evident the strongest party determines who will be chancellor," Kauder said.

"If there is no agreement on this question, coalition negotiations make no sense."

The ambiguous election result sparked a nasty and unexpected power struggle after both Schroeder and Merkel claimed a governing mandate from the knife-edge poll result.

Merkel believes her party's lead, however narrow, justifies her bid. Her Christian Union alliance won 35.2% of the vote and 225 seats in parliament, finishing less than a point ahead of the Social Democrats with 34.3% and 222 seats.

The media-savvy Schroeder has insisted he is more capable of forming a stable ruling majority than Merkel because of the SPD's surprisingly strong result after months of trailing the conservatives in opinion polls.

But as the afterglow of their come-from-behind score wore off, some Social Democrats appeared to acknowledge the game was up.

Deputy SPD leader Kurt Beck said he expected a grand coalition would eventually take power but hinted it was unlikely Schroeder would lead it.

- AFP