German protests at cuts reveal lingering divisions

GERMANY: Nearly 15 years after they brought down the Communist regime, over 20,000 former East Germans took to the streets yesterday in a revival of their Monday night demonstrations.

But last night's marchers in Leipzig, Magdeburg, Dresden and other cities were not calling for free elections, but a halt to drastic social welfare cuts they fear will hit the already sluggish development of eastern Germany.

"The SPD have forgotten their own name. They are supposed to be social, these reforms aren't," said one protester in Leipzig yesterday. Behind him, protesters carried a banner updating the former East German protest slogan: "We are the people, not slaves."

Their protests will increase pressure on Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to dilute his controversial reforms and come amid increasing signs that left-wingers within the ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD), unhappy with the reforms, will break away and form their own party before the next general election.

But leading East German opposition figures from the 1980s criticised yesterday's revived "Monday Demos" as "foolish".

"The Schröder government, whatever the criticisms, cannot be compared to the Honecker government," said Ms Vera Langsfeld, a Christian Democrat MP and former opposition figure.

Mr Wolfgang Clement, the economics and labour minister and a key figure behind the reforms, called the new demonstrations an "insult to the historical demonstrations".

But other opposition figures from the 1980s shrugged off the criticisms.

"Now that we have the right to demonstrate, we should keep our mouths shut? That can't be right," said Christian Führer, a Leipzig pastor and former leading opposition figure.

Chancellor Schröder has admitted the social cuts are difficult but said the country is living beyond its means and has little choice.

But his pleas to accept cuts today to stimulate growth tomorrow have failed to impress easterners. In the 15 years since Helmut Kohl promised them "blossoming landscapes", billions have been invested in infrastructure but the economy is stagnant and unemployment is stuck at over 20 per cent, twice the national average. Entire younger generations are moving west and south in search of work.

Easterners fear they will be hit unduly hard by the reforms that, from January 1st, will cut dole payments to the level of social welfare - €345 a month in western states and €331 in the east - with additional allowances for housing and parents.

The payments will last two years and will be carefully means-tested to take into account property, savings and life insurance policies.

Easterners are particularly embittered about provisions to cut payments if job seekers refuse job offers, which could see them forced to move to new areas in search of work.

Fear and hysteria have been stirred up by tabloid newspapers, with reports that children will be forced to smash open their piggy banks and give up their savings to support their unemployed parents.

Though the government has officially dismissed the protests, the Bundestag president Mr Wolfgang Thierse, an easterner and SPD politician, said yesterday he had "sympathy" for the marchers.

The mixed messages from the SPD reflect the difficulty the party faces, with just 20 per cent support and facing disaster in upcoming state elections. Disaffected SPD voters could yet be wooed away by Mr Oskar Lafontaine, the finance minister fired by Chancellor Schröder, who has emerged from the shadows to back the formation of a new left-wing party.

"The government's current policies have robbed the SPD of its soul," said Mr Lafontaine to Der Spiegel magazine yesterday. "If \ had any decency he would resign, given his poll ratings ... If \ continues his failed policy up to the next federal election, there will be a new left-wing group aimed at reversing the social dismantlement. I will then support it."

Ironically, one of the loudest opponents of the cuts and supporters of the marches is the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), the successor to East Germany's Socialist Unity Party (SED), which was brought down by the original marches. The former communists hope to revive the party's dwindling fortunes.