Opposition tries to find remedy for its troubles

Leaders of Germany's opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) met outside Bonn yesterday for three days of soul-searching aimed at devising a strategy to lead the party out of the deepest electoral trough in its history.

The meeting takes place against a background of internal bickering over a national petition against plans by Mr Gerhard Schroder's centre-left government to extend citizenship rights to millions of foreigners living in Germany.

The petition, first proposed by Mr Edmund Stoiber, leader of the arch-conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), has been criticised by the government, church leaders and Germany's Jewish community as dangerous and xenophobic.

Many moderate Christian Democrats are also unhappy that their leaders have chosen immigration for their first showdown with the new government.

The CDU leader, Mr Wolfgang Schauble, is under fire from within his own ranks for his failure to capitalise on divisions within the governing coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, despite a broadly-shared perception that the government has made a poor start.

Part of Mr Schauble's problem is that his predecessor, Dr Helmut Kohl, is reluctant to relinquish control of the party he dominated for a quarter of a century. Although now a backbencher, Dr Kohl still attends leadership meetings, and some party members complain that the former chancellor's presence effectively smothers criticism of the strategy that led to the party's worst-ever election result last September.

Mr Schauble, a formidable politician who shares Dr Kohl's vision of European unity, appears uneasy at the head of a campaign against extending rights to foreign residents. He insists his objection to some foreigners enjoying dual citizenship is that it will make immigrant integration more difficult.