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Schröder vs. Stoiber - The Campaign Begins
No sooner did the conservative opposition Christian Social and Christian Democratic Union parties (CSU/CDU) settle their "chancellor question" than the question shifted to the national arena. When Angela Merkel (CDU) withdrew her bid to head the Union's campaign for Germany's top political post late last week, the way was cleared for Edmund Stoiber (CSU) to take the lead. Although elections will not be held until September 22, Stoiber has already put forth a political platform featuring points he hopes to score off Chancellor Gerhard Schröder's campaign promises made in the 1998 election. Schröder, speaking in Berlin on Monday (January 14), expressed his hope that the campaign will focus primarily on matters of political content, not personal attacks. The main themes of the campaign are widely expected to include economic and employment policy, environmental and energy policy matters, social policy, internal security and immigration and national defense. On economic and employment policy, Schröder has pushed for tax restructurings and reductions that would lower the highest rate of individual income taxation to 42% by 2005. Stoiber pledges to go further, lowering this rate to 40%. In 1998, Schröder had promised the electorate that he would reduce the number of unemployed in Germany to 3.5 million by the end of his term. However, changed economic circumstances and the European Union mandate to adhere to deficit-trimming measures have made realization of this goal more challenging than anticipated. Stoiber advocates greater labor market flexibility to combat rising jobless numbers.
On Monday, Schröder commented that he did not regret having staked so much on the 3.5 million figure. He argued that at the national level the government had done all in its power to fight the economic downturn and keep a lid on unemployment. He reminded his audience that unemployment is still lower now than it was during the Kohl (CDU/CSU) era and that some 1.2 million jobs had been created during Schröder's term of office. The chancellor also said that some of the measures his government has enacted have yet to show their full effects in the job market. Still, Stoiber's strong record of economic achievement in Bavaria, the large and prosperous federal state of which he is governor, is likely to serve him well on these points. In environmental and energy policy matters, Schröder and his governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens have put through measures to preserve the sustainability of natural resources and to reduce pollutants. They passed a four-stage "ecology tax," which chiefly raises the price of gasoline to finance environmental and pension programs. The ruling red-green coalition has also signed into law an exit strategy from nuclear energy production in Germany, thereby making good on one of its central campaign promises. Stoiber pledges to reverse this decision, as he claims emissions-reduction goals are untenable without nuclear energy. He has also promised not to raise the ecology tax further.
Social policy issues divide the candidates most sharply. Schröder and his coalition have already passed a pension reform program, with additional provisions for private pension plans. However, Stoiber believes Germany's aging population and the current pension laws are leading the country to a dead end. He wants to strengthen individuals' abilities to control their own pension plans, along the lines of a 401(k) program. He also advocates more funds for "family-friendly" programs such as education and child-rearing. Internal security and immigration have been highest-priority topics for countries around the world since the terrorist attacks of September 2001 and Germany is no exception. Schröder and Stoiber both favor more rigorous background checks and more thorough visa-application processing. In light of high unemployment figures, both believe foreign work-seekers should only be granted permits in select specialized fields. Stoiber says the objective of Germany's immigration policy should be to "control and limit" the influx of immigrants, while immigration draft legislation proposed by Schröder's government makes provision for thorough assessment of applications on a case-by-case basis. Defense has also become a key issue for Germany as
the country takes on international military obligations for the first
time since World War II. Schröder and his parliamentary coalition
have already implemented reforms to add muscle to Germany's armed forces.
Stoiber says his country can only fulfill international duties if the
material preconditions (i.e., armaments, naval vessel, etc.) are there
to back Germany's soldiers and sailors. Therefore, he promises to increase
the defense budget to €25 billion (US$22.5 billion). He claims the
Bundeswehr (army) needs more full-time and reserve soldiers for foreign
missions and wants the parliamentary procedure for approving German military
activities abroad to be reviewed, as well. January 17, 2002 Link |
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