By Sam Wainwright
A minor storm has been created in Germany by seven Green and Social Democratic Party (SPD) members crossing the floor of the Bundestag (the federal parliament) to join Chancellor Kohl's conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) government, shoring up its previously slim majority. The seven, all former East German dissidents, claimed their actions were motivated by the possibility of closer cooperation by the SPD and Greens with the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS).
The PDS was founded after German reunification by elements of the old East German communist party (SED) who, while criticising the bureaucratic and undemocratic rule that characterised East Germany, remained committed to the idea of a democratic socialism.
Today the PDS has around 6% support across Germany as a whole, but in the old East this rises to 20%.
Helmut Ettinger, a PDS spokesperson, explained that the defection of the former dissidents is not as surprising as it may seem:
"These former dissidents were always to the right of the SPD and the Greens, and since the reunification they have devoted most of their efforts to criticising the East's history ... while paying little attention to the problems facing Germany after reunification, especially the various social problems."
The failure of the former dissidents to relate to people's present-day concerns has caused their prestige and credibility to dry up in the east. Ettinger said, "We think that this defection to the CDU is all about trying to secure another term in parliament in the 1998 elections ...
"Firstly, they are so far to the right of that party they might not have been preselected; and secondly, even if they were selected, they would not be very appealing to Green voters. They are hoping to get a safe place on the CDU ticket in return for the gift they have given it."
The whole episode is regarded as something of a cynical stunt by a lot of people in the east, to the extent that even sections of the CDU opposed it because they felt it would undermine their credibility. Ettinger outlined Chancellor Kohl's stake in the affair:
"There is a big difference between the attitudes of east and west Germans. The CDU is very worried about its 1998 election prospects, and this affair is part of their electoral campaign. They believe that their chances depend on how people vote in the west, where 80% of the population lives. Their manoeuvres, such as painting the PDS as a monster from the past and accusing the Greens and SPD of being too close to us, is primitive anticommunism designed for the western public and will reap them some gains."
The Greens' parliamentary spokesperson, Joschka Fischer, demanded that the defectors resign "out of respect for the wishes of those who elected them". Although the defections have substantially weakened the Greens' parliamentary representation, the conservatism of the defectors was starting to prove a liability for the party among its supporters.
It is conceivable that the combined vote of the PDS, SPD and the Greens in the 1998 elections will suffice to defeat the conservative government. So far the SPD and the Greens have tried to take on the CDU by themselves, but they are beginning to recognise the need for cooperation with the PDS, even though they are not yet willing to admit as much in public.
Explaining the PDS's response to this situation, Ettinger said, "One of our current aims is to end the long period of conservative government in Germany ... we have said quite openly that we would not obstruct an SPD-Greens government, although we cannot at this stage speculate about the extent of our support or tolerance".
At the regional level the PDS has already helped to shore up a minority SPD government in preference to the CDU, but apart from backing it in confidence votes it maintained its distance from the government.
Germany is experiencing its highest unemployment since the second world war, the official figures currently being 12% across the country and 17% in the east. And just as growing numbers of people are being forced to join the dole queues, the Kohl government is seeking to dismantle large elements of social welfare in order to meet the requirements of European monetary union.
PDS opposition to these measures explains its vilification by German capitalism. Not content with red-baiting, the minister of the interior recently said that he wished to put the PDS as a whole under secret police surveillance. (As Ettinger was discussing this attack on his organisation, the phone line went dead!)
The Kohl government has alleged PDS links with the illegal Kurdish Workers Party and accused its youth organisation of association with terrorism. However, the CDU has been unable to come up with any evidence sufficiently credible to convince a cynical public.