| |
|
|
|
|
|
||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
The Week in Germany: Politics August 5, 2005 Chancellor candidates to meet in TV debate Gerhard Schroeder, Germany's media-savvy Chancellor, will meet his conservative challenger in only a single televised debate instead of the two encounters that he had originally demanded ahead of a planned Sept. 18 election.
The decision to hold a single 90-minute debate on Sunday, Sept. 4, was seen as a victory for current poll frontrunner Angela Merkel, who said there was not enough time to prepare for two debates in the six weeks left in the election campaign. That stance left Schroeder's camp wondering aloud whether Merkel had "something to hide" and suggesting that the chancellor would be prepared to address the nation by himself. Analysts say that Schroeder's slick debating skills, assuring baritone and convincing common touch could help him erode the massive 16-19 point lead Merkel's Christian Democrats hold in current opinion polls. "Nowhere is Schroeder a more dangerous opponent than in front of the camera," the conservative Berlin daily Die Welt noted in its Wednesday edition. In contrast, Merkel, a pastor's daughter from the former East Germany, is known as a tough, ambitious and intelligent party leader, but not a great communicator. In her last major television appearance, a nationally-televised address to parliament that kicked off the campaign season, she looked awkward and stumbled over her speech, which was interrupted by heckles and laughter. She delivered a similarly stiff performance in a television interview this week, hardly smiling as she delivered curt answers in a light eastern accent and confusing "gross" and "net" when discussing wages.
Schroeder has meanwhile advised Merkel to stay relaxed ahead of the much-anticipated debate. "One can actually win these things," he said at Wednesday at the launch of a book of photographs and essays about himself. The upcoming debate will be moderated by journalists from each of Germany's four major television networks. Details on the format have yet to be announced. Televised face-offs between candidates only recently became a fixture of German elections. The first televised debate between candidates for chancellor was held only three years ago, when over 14 million viewers saw Schroeder take on — and beat — his conservative opponent Edmund Stoiber in each of two televised encounters. However, even if Schroeder wins the upcoming debate as well, it remains to be seen whether it will be enough to turn the tide — especially in a country like Germany, where voters elect a party instead of their leader. Links:
|
|
More from Germany.info  Newsletters
 Printer-Friendly
Page
Email This Article |
|||
|
||||||
|
||||||
