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(Continued from page 4)
have occurred.
In a seldom-used parl iamentary
move last autumn, the center-left
government of Chancellor Helmut
Schmidt was replaced by a center–
right coalition.
As in S pain , the political center
is close to disappearing, resulting
once again in greater polarization
between left and right. The small ,
centrist Free Democratic Party
(FDP), now in the government, is
not expecting to win enough votes
to be returned to parliament in the
scheduled national elections.
Many German citizens are con–
cerned over their country's future.
There are few signs of economic
recovery over the horizon . Unem-
bility in West Germany is repre–
sented by the "Greens," a radical
par ty that has mushroomed almost
from nowhere in the past few
years.
The loosely organ ized Green
movement comprises an amalgam
of environmentalists, anti nuclear
opponents and other single-issue
activists.
The Green movement has sup–
planted the slumping FDP as the
third party in six of the JI West
German
Lander,
or states. But the
Greens, far off to the left, "doing
their own thing," do not act out the
role of a traditional power-balanc–
ing swing party in the middle.
lt
is easier, claim their critics, to
see what the Greens oppose than
what they support. "We are the
antiparty party," claims a top
Green official.
Sweden's Socialist
no room for compromise.
Green leaders have adamantly
stated they wi ll not cooperate with
other parties unless their views on
environmental, economic and espe–
cially defense matters are accepted.
"We won't move on these matters,"
says a key leader of the Greens,
Petra Kelly. "Others must come to
us."
Despite their divergent single–
issue causes, the Greens are almost
100 percent united around one
dominant issue: T hey are dead set
against new intermediate range
nuclear missiles scheduled to be
placed by NATO on West German
soil later this year.
The coming missile confronta–
tion promises to be one of West
Germany' s biggest stories this year.
(It is an equally large issue in the
Netherlands as well.)
Socialist Presiden!
Francois Mitterrand
of France at his
inauguration in June, 1981
Greek Premier Andreas
Papandreou
during his 1982 visit
to West Germany
Prime Minister Olof Palme
restored his
General Secretary of Spain's
Socialist party Felipe
Gonzalez won sweeping
electoral victory
ployment, for one, is expected to
escalate still further, making life dif–
ficult for Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
The fear of política! instabi li ty,
however, disturbs Germans even
more. Other peoples, such as the
ltalians, seem to be able to adjust
to pol itical uncertainties, and to
revolving-door governments. The
German national character simply
demands more orderliness.
The Obstinate Greens
The biggest threat to continued sta-
42
country's left coalition
In state after state where they
are represented, the Greens have
refused to cooperate with the estab–
lished parties in forming workable
coali tions. The big fear is that they
will repeat this process should they
be elected to the West German
Bundestag, or federal parl iament,
maki ng th e country virtuall y
ungovemable.
Missile Furor E xpected
To the G reens, politics is not " the
ar t of the possible." There simply is
Green leader Kelly s tates that
"there must be no Pershing 2 or
cruise missiles, either sea based or
land based. Then we must start to
move out of the NATO power bloc.
And there must be a shutdown of
all German nuclear power plants."
The Green leadership is gearing
up to call for massive demonst ra–
tions at construction sites for the
new missi les. Heated confronta–
t ions with law enforcement agents
are virtual ly assured, guaranteeing
exciting television coverage.
The PLAIN TRUTH