GERMANY’S CHRISTIAN Democrats (CDU) have agreed an election manifesto they hope will return them to power in September based on two pillars: the promise of €15 billion in tax cuts and the authority of German chancellor Angela Merkel.
The 64-page programme agreed in Berlin yesterday is short on detail on how to finance tax cuts in lean economic times and does not say when the promised cuts will come into force.
But after weeks of disagreement within the CDU and its sister party, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU), Dr Merkel made it clear yesterday that she would not tolerate any more dissent ahead of election day.
“We have talked enough,” she said. “We have a goal, and that is to bring our country as quickly as possible out of the [economic] downturn.”
Political rivals, such as CSU leader Horst Seehofer, indicated that they were prepared to play along: they know better than to cross the most popular politician in the country.
“More important than any party programme is a person,” said Mr Seehofer.
“We don’t need a candidate, we have a chancellor.”
As well as milking Dr Merkel’s personal popularity, the CDU hopes to win votes by cutting entry-level tax and increasing the top tax-rate entry level.
Last week Dr Merkel’s cabinet agreed to borrow an extra €86.1 billion just to balance the books in Berlin next year – the largest hole in a post-war German budget.
So why sacrifice tax revenue in a worldwide economic crisis?
“We have to work with a little imagination,” said Dr Merkel, calling it her priority to restart economic growth “without destroying any growth by saving”.
It was a different story four years ago when, during a milder national slowdown, Dr Merkel threatened VAT hikes and other belt-tightening measures in what she called “the most honest manifesto in years”.
For her honesty, voters lumbered her with a marriage-of-convenience coalition with political arch-rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD).
The new 62-page programme makes some interesting policy corrections.
On the controversial issue of nuclear energy, the CDU stands by a promise to extend the lifespan of existing nuclear powerstations, but now rejects building new stations.
In social policy, the party tries to widen its appeal beyond traditional CDU voters by promising to “push for a climate in our society that respects different life models”.
The SPD and opposition parties dismissed yesterday’s CDU programme as “voter fraud”.