refuse_resist
26th August 2004, 02:53
THEY’RE BACK
The growing outrage at the German government's planned welfare and labor “reforms” manifested itself even more violently yesterday when Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the main target of the protests, faced his detractors in two appearances in the eastern heartland of the recent unrest. Schröder looked exasperated as he was the target of a "shock and awe" egg-throwing campaign by protesters at an open air event in the East German city of Wittenberg and then was harangued with furious whistles and cries of "liar" as he made a speech in Leipzig. Only a day before, the latest in a month long campaign of "Monday Demonstrations," as many as 70,000 people once again took to the streets to show exactly what they thought of the government's plans. The citizens of the east, the region that stands to be affected most by the reforms to cut unemployment benefit among other things, made up most of those who marched. "The reforms are hurting the poor while the rich continue to pocket huge profits," one Berlin protester
During the chancellor's official speech to mark the prelude of the Social Democrat's state election campaign in Saxony, Schröder was drowned out by whistles, songs and shouts of defamatory abuse as he defended the job market reforms. The chancellor reacted angrily to cries of "betrayer of the working class," responding by labeling those attempting to shout him down as undemocratic and accusing them of wanting the "destruction of the political culture."
It had been a long and stressful day for the chancellor. While visiting a newly renovated train station in Wittenberg, Schröder narrowly avoided what initial reports described as "a hail of eggs" thrown by protestors livid over the planned labor-market reforms.
Tens of thousands of protesters, mostly in eastern Germany, have taken to the streets in recent weeks in a bid to force Schroeder to modify a law that lowers benefits for the long-term unemployed and compels them to take low-paid jobs. The reform is called Hartz IV, named after Volkswagen personnel director Peter Hartz who led a government-appointed commission on job-market reforms in 2002. Anger over the government’s welfare cuts is especially strong in eastern Germany, because the majority of the 3 million people who are affected by them live there. The new measures include stiff means-testing and deep cuts in monthly benefit payments for the long-term unemployed. “The people are fed up,“ said pastor Christian Führer, a man who helped organize the peaceful East German protests that led to the downfall of the communist regime in 1989. The premier of the eastern state of Brandenburg also expressed his worries this week, saying that the disgruntlement extends far beyond concerns about the latest national reform. Matthias Platzeck, a Social Democrat, said that eastern Germans thought they were second-class citizens and that the latest reform had simply unleashed the dammed-up frustration caused by this feeling. “I think it is an extremely serious situation,“ he said.
And now it seems that more than 75 percent of eastern Germans polled in a survey released Monday believe communism to be a good idea in theory. Over half of the people in formerly communist eastern Germany are disillusioned with democracy, said the survey by Datenreport 2004. Some 25 percent of respondents agree with the statement: "There are other, better forms of government than democracy." A whopping 76 percent eastern Germans said they believed communism was a good idea that was only poorly carried out by the regime in the former German Democratic Republic. The survey showed a majority of western Germans (51 percent) also agree with that sentiment. Eighty percent of western Germans said they believe in democracy.
Another poll, conducted for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, also showed that the party that succeeded East Germany's communist party had emerged as the second strongest political force in the region. The chief source of the Party of Democratic Socialism’s (PDS) growing support is the protest against the latest reform. The reformed Communists' charismatic Gregor Gysi, says his party was just putting a finger on the sore spots of Schröder’s reform policy. "The economic situation in Eastern Germany," he said, "doesn’t seem to matter anymore -- neither to the government nor to parliament. In addition, the cuts always hit the weakest in society while the well-to-do are left untouched."
Rightwing-extremist parties are also profiting from the mass protests. In Saxony the National Democratic Party could enter the regional parliament in September. The party could increase its votes from one and half to over 5 percent compared the last election, polls have shown. In Brandenburg the German People’s Union is expected to hold its seats in parliament. Both parties have waged anti-reform campaigns as seeking to stoke resentment towards foreigners. Sources: Deutche Welle, World Press Review, Expatica, Xinhua, Bloomberg
To view the Oread Daily go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OreadDaily/ Subscribe to the Oread Daily at [email protected] Contact the Oread Daily at [email protected]
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?...4/08/25/7064701 (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/08/25/7064701)
Here's another article about it. http://www.expatica.com/source/site_articl...&story_id=10955 (http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=10955)
The growing outrage at the German government's planned welfare and labor “reforms” manifested itself even more violently yesterday when Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the main target of the protests, faced his detractors in two appearances in the eastern heartland of the recent unrest. Schröder looked exasperated as he was the target of a "shock and awe" egg-throwing campaign by protesters at an open air event in the East German city of Wittenberg and then was harangued with furious whistles and cries of "liar" as he made a speech in Leipzig. Only a day before, the latest in a month long campaign of "Monday Demonstrations," as many as 70,000 people once again took to the streets to show exactly what they thought of the government's plans. The citizens of the east, the region that stands to be affected most by the reforms to cut unemployment benefit among other things, made up most of those who marched. "The reforms are hurting the poor while the rich continue to pocket huge profits," one Berlin protester
During the chancellor's official speech to mark the prelude of the Social Democrat's state election campaign in Saxony, Schröder was drowned out by whistles, songs and shouts of defamatory abuse as he defended the job market reforms. The chancellor reacted angrily to cries of "betrayer of the working class," responding by labeling those attempting to shout him down as undemocratic and accusing them of wanting the "destruction of the political culture."
It had been a long and stressful day for the chancellor. While visiting a newly renovated train station in Wittenberg, Schröder narrowly avoided what initial reports described as "a hail of eggs" thrown by protestors livid over the planned labor-market reforms.
Tens of thousands of protesters, mostly in eastern Germany, have taken to the streets in recent weeks in a bid to force Schroeder to modify a law that lowers benefits for the long-term unemployed and compels them to take low-paid jobs. The reform is called Hartz IV, named after Volkswagen personnel director Peter Hartz who led a government-appointed commission on job-market reforms in 2002. Anger over the government’s welfare cuts is especially strong in eastern Germany, because the majority of the 3 million people who are affected by them live there. The new measures include stiff means-testing and deep cuts in monthly benefit payments for the long-term unemployed. “The people are fed up,“ said pastor Christian Führer, a man who helped organize the peaceful East German protests that led to the downfall of the communist regime in 1989. The premier of the eastern state of Brandenburg also expressed his worries this week, saying that the disgruntlement extends far beyond concerns about the latest national reform. Matthias Platzeck, a Social Democrat, said that eastern Germans thought they were second-class citizens and that the latest reform had simply unleashed the dammed-up frustration caused by this feeling. “I think it is an extremely serious situation,“ he said.
And now it seems that more than 75 percent of eastern Germans polled in a survey released Monday believe communism to be a good idea in theory. Over half of the people in formerly communist eastern Germany are disillusioned with democracy, said the survey by Datenreport 2004. Some 25 percent of respondents agree with the statement: "There are other, better forms of government than democracy." A whopping 76 percent eastern Germans said they believed communism was a good idea that was only poorly carried out by the regime in the former German Democratic Republic. The survey showed a majority of western Germans (51 percent) also agree with that sentiment. Eighty percent of western Germans said they believe in democracy.
Another poll, conducted for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, also showed that the party that succeeded East Germany's communist party had emerged as the second strongest political force in the region. The chief source of the Party of Democratic Socialism’s (PDS) growing support is the protest against the latest reform. The reformed Communists' charismatic Gregor Gysi, says his party was just putting a finger on the sore spots of Schröder’s reform policy. "The economic situation in Eastern Germany," he said, "doesn’t seem to matter anymore -- neither to the government nor to parliament. In addition, the cuts always hit the weakest in society while the well-to-do are left untouched."
Rightwing-extremist parties are also profiting from the mass protests. In Saxony the National Democratic Party could enter the regional parliament in September. The party could increase its votes from one and half to over 5 percent compared the last election, polls have shown. In Brandenburg the German People’s Union is expected to hold its seats in parliament. Both parties have waged anti-reform campaigns as seeking to stoke resentment towards foreigners. Sources: Deutche Welle, World Press Review, Expatica, Xinhua, Bloomberg
To view the Oread Daily go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/OreadDaily/ Subscribe to the Oread Daily at [email protected] Contact the Oread Daily at [email protected]
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?...4/08/25/7064701 (http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=04/08/25/7064701)
Here's another article about it. http://www.expatica.com/source/site_articl...&story_id=10955 (http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=52&story_id=10955)