HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
AFP. 17 March 2002. Successor to E.German communists launches election manifesto. ROSTOCK -- The successor to the former East German hardline communists, the German Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), Sunday launched its election manifesto for this year's parliamentary elections, becoming the first political party to do so. The manifesto, which notably rules out an alliance with the two parties in power, the Social Democrats and the Greens, was backed by most of the 450 delegates at the PDS party conference. The delegates condemned what they called the policies of war and social exclusion of the governing coalition. However, the party said it could not rule out joining a national coalition with the Social Democrats at a later date, building on two successful local government coalitions between the two parties. "We have been willing for a long time to enter coalitions," said PDS president Gabi Zimmer. The PDS has set itself a target of becoming the third largest party in the country after the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats. At the moment it has only six percent of the vote in opinion polls, and in the last elections just managed to pass the five percent level necessary to be represented in Parliament. The party manifesto for the September elections is aimed primarily at voters in the former East Germany, where most of the PDS's support lies. Policies include the complete equality of salaries between eastern and western Germany, and an "offensive for investment, innovation and creation" for businesses in the east. Other measures promised are a cut in the working week and a special VAT tax on luxury goods. [N.B.] On foreign policy, the party voted by a small majority to take Germany out of NATO if it gets into power, and to use the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union to push for the development of eastern Germany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
