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Merkel"s CDU to broaden appeal base and push through tax cuts
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 14 - 01 - 2010


German Chancellor Angela Merkel"s Christian
Democrats (CDU) unveiled plans today to broaden the party"s
appeal, in response to record low results in last year"s election, according to dpa.
In a draft document, the CDU leadership said it wants to target
supporters of the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green
Party, as well as winning back voters who had defected to the Free
Democrats (FDP) during the last election.
"Elections are won in the centre," the declaration said. It also
reiterated the CDU"s commitment to tax reforms pledged after last
year"s election.
Merkel"s CDU was returned to government last September with just
33.8 per cent of the vote, just enough to form a coalition with the
pro-business FDP and force the centre-left SPD into opposition.
The so-called "Berlin declaration," to be approved at a CDU
leadership convention on Friday, came in response to criticism that
Merkel was not appealing sufficiently to her party"s conservative
wing.
On the contrary, the chancellor said, her party needed to broaden
its electoral base. "Of course, this also means reaching the growing
number of floating voters," Merkel said in an interview with daily
Handelsblatt.
CDU leaders voiced their dissatisfaction with the party"s worst
election result in 60 years. "It will increasingly depend on locking
in core voters and winning new voters," the Berlin draft read.
Volker Kauder, the parliamentary leader of the CDU and its
Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), said they
were "Christian-conservative, Christian-social - and liberal. None of
these roots can be allowed to wither."
The party leadership reiterated its intention to push through tax
reform in the next two years, after the CSU had attacked an FDP-led
move to slash tax revenue by up to 24 billion euros (35 billion
dollars).
Earlier, Merkel had also defended her coalition partners.
"It is interesting that the FDP in particular has been criticized
for making sure that what we promised is really implemented," the
chancellor told Handelsblatt, in reference to government pledges made
after the election.
Merkel has been criticized by her own party members for allowing
recent infighting to rage amongst her coalition members, in
particular between CSU and FDP ranks.
However, just 36 per cent of the population agreed that Merkel was
not showing leadership, compared to 46 per cent who supported her,
according to pollsters Emnid.
The head of Emnid, Klaus-Peter Schoeppner, said the CDU had gone
through a "radical change" under Merkel"s leadership. However, the
party lacked a "core brand," he told N24 news channel.
Merkel, who is often described as the CDU"s dominant "brand,"
stressed the importance for her party to maintain its broad appeal.
"In future the CDU, as a people"s party, will need to cover a
broad range of persuasions in order to win majorities," the
chancellor told Handelsblatt.
The CDU leadership meeting continues Friday in Berlin.


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