Germany's Social Democrats move leftBy Judy Dempsey
Published: October 28, 2007BERLIN: Germany's Social Democrats moved sharply to the left Sunday after party delegates voted to scale down ambitious economic reforms, introduce a 130-kilometer speed limit on the highways and impose a veto over a quick privatization of the federal railroads.
The decisions, made during a three-day party congress in Hamburg, dealt a blow to the more reform-minded Social Democrat ministers in Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative-led grand coalition and also confirmed that no major reforms would be introduced before the next general election, scheduled for 2009.
In a country known for its fast cars, extensive highway network and no speed limit, the vote by delegates was a major turnaround for the Social Democrats. Although nonbinding - it would require a government decision for it to become law - Social Democrat delegates said they were sending a signal that speed limits on the highways were essential if Germany were to reduce CO2 emissions. It was also an attempt to reach out to environmentalists and win over supporters from the Green party.
It was a grass-roots movement by the delegates - not the party's leaders, including Kurt Beck - to push for the resolution. Although Beck was re-elected leader with 95.5 percent of the vote from the 525 delegates, the delegates challenged his authority and that of the party leadership in voting to introduce a speed limit and impose restrictions on privatizing Deutsche Bahn, the federal railroad company.
Beck, who is not a member of the federal government, has used this freedom to reach out to the broader party movement, even as it puts him in opposition with Social Democrat cabinet members. Grass-roots delegates continue to yearn for a state that focuses on retaining old-fashioned social justice and equality, while cabinet ministers see their job as modernizing state financing and the social security system.
