Protests against Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's planned social welfare cuts spread Monday into hundreds of smaller German towns, with participation steady nationally. Police estimated that 75,000 people took to the streets around the country. In previous weeks, turnout had run at about 70,000. Organizers say they will keep up the protests as the January 1 reforms approach. The government aims to reduce its welfare spending by means testing beneficiaries. Opponents say this is unfair, as there are few jobs in the former East, where unemployment runs at 20 per cent. Some media commentators have suggested the protests have stopped growing as leftists have taken a firmer grip of the organization and centrists have distanced themselves from the rallies. Police counted 12,000 protesters at the biggest rally Monday in Leipzig. In Berlin and Magdeburg, two other eastern cities where the protests have been strongest, police estimated turnout Monday at 7,000 and 6,000 respectively. Gregor Gysi, a former Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) leader, told the Magdeburg crowd that the government was making life easier for the rich and for businesses while slashing welfare. --More 2304 Local Time 2004 GMT
