Social Democratic Party West Germany

The Social Democratic Party, West Germany's principal national opposition party, won a strong victory in Saarland state elections Sunday, virtually ensuring that state Premier Oskar Lafontaine will be the party's candidate for federal chancellor. The national elections are scheduled later this year. With Lafontaine heading the ticket, the Social Democrats retained their majority in the Saarland state legislature. Television projections gave the Social Democrat's 54.

Less than one week before German unification, the East and West German Social Democratic parties merged into a single organization and pledged to help the new Germany "find its place in a peaceful Europe." When the two countries unite next Wednesday, the Social Democratic Party, or SPD, will be the largest opposition group to the conservative-led government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl in December elections.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Thursday that German reunification is close to becoming a fact. "We have never been so close to our goal--the unity of all Germans in freedom--as we are today," Kohl said in an address to the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament.

United in their doubts about German reunification, radical leftists from East and West have formed a coalition of convenience to better their chances in the all-German elections on Dec. 2. At a weekend congress in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, West Germany's Greens party and East Germany's Alliance 90 joined forces for the coming campaign and ruled out cooperation with the left-of-center Social Democrats. Both the Greens and the East German leftists oppose the reunification set for Oct. 3.

Oskar Lafontaine, the 46-year-old premier of the depressed West German state of Saarland, was chosen Monday to lead the opposition Social Democratic Party in the election for chancellor against incumbent Helmut Kohl. Lafontaine was named in a secret party ballot only a day after the allied Social Democrats of East Germany were badly beaten by a center-right coalition of parties aligned with Kohl's Christian Democrats in the first free elections in that nation.

United in their doubts about German reunification, radical leftists from East and West have formed a coalition of convenience to better their chances in the all-German elections on Dec. 2. At a weekend congress in the Bavarian city of Bayreuth, West Germany's Greens party and East Germany's Alliance 90 joined forces for the coming campaign and ruled out cooperation with the left-of-center Social Democrats. Both the Greens and the East German leftists oppose the reunification set for Oct. 3.

Less than one week before German unification, the East and West German Social Democratic parties merged into a single organization and pledged to help the new Germany "find its place in a peaceful Europe." When the two countries unite next Wednesday, the Social Democratic Party, or SPD, will be the largest opposition group to the conservative-led government of Chancellor Helmut Kohl in December elections.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl said a "dirty tricks" campaign waged by a state leader of his Christian Democratic Party was mainly to blame for the landslide victory of the opposition Social Democrats in Sunday's election in the West German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The Social Democrats won 46 seats in the 74-member state Parliament to end 38 years of Christian Democratic rule.

Barely two weeks after victories in two state elections lifted the opposition Social Democrats into a position to challenge West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl on key elements of the German unification process, serious internal differences threaten to destroy those gains.

East and West Germany exchanged denunciations Tuesday as the flow of East German refugees continued through Hungary and Austria to West Germany and as the Bonn government closed its embassy in Warsaw to the public because of refugees there. In East Berlin, the Communist regime accused the West German government of organizing the exodus of East Germans and charged that West German diplomats had disguised themselves as charity workers to facilitate the process.

Barely two weeks after victories in two state elections lifted the opposition Social Democrats into a position to challenge West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl on key elements of the German unification process, serious internal differences threaten to destroy those gains.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl's conservative Christian Democrats suffered a setback Sunday when voters in state elections took away the party's majority in the upper house of the West German Parliament. The defeat at the hands of the Social Democrats in voting in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony could portend trouble for Kohl in general elections next December. It could also slow legislative action on reunification with East Germany, although it seems unlikely that it will derail the process.

The opposition's candidate for chancellor, Oskar Lafontaine, was seriously wounded Wednesday night when a woman calmly handed him a bouquet of flowers and then slashed his throat with a butcher knife before hundreds of his stunned supporters at a campaign rally here. The attacker was immediately overpowered by bystanders and taken into custody by police.

Oskar Lafontaine, the 46-year-old premier of the depressed West German state of Saarland, was chosen Monday to lead the opposition Social Democratic Party in the election for chancellor against incumbent Helmut Kohl. Lafontaine was named in a secret party ballot only a day after the allied Social Democrats of East Germany were badly beaten by a center-right coalition of parties aligned with Kohl's Christian Democrats in the first free elections in that nation.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl said Thursday that German reunification is close to becoming a fact. "We have never been so close to our goal--the unity of all Germans in freedom--as we are today," Kohl said in an address to the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament.

The Social Democratic Party, West Germany's principal national opposition party, won a strong victory in Saarland state elections Sunday, virtually ensuring that state Premier Oskar Lafontaine will be the party's candidate for federal chancellor. The national elections are scheduled later this year. With Lafontaine heading the ticket, the Social Democrats retained their majority in the Saarland state legislature. Television projections gave the Social Democrat's 54.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl's conservative Christian Democrats suffered a setback Sunday when voters in state elections took away the party's majority in the upper house of the West German Parliament. The defeat at the hands of the Social Democrats in voting in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony could portend trouble for Kohl in general elections next December. It could also slow legislative action on reunification with East Germany, although it seems unlikely that it will derail the process.

The opposition's candidate for chancellor, Oskar Lafontaine, was seriously wounded Wednesday night when a woman calmly handed him a bouquet of flowers and then slashed his throat with a butcher knife before hundreds of his stunned supporters at a campaign rally here. The attacker was immediately overpowered by bystanders and taken into custody by police.

East and West Germany exchanged denunciations Tuesday as the flow of East German refugees continued through Hungary and Austria to West Germany and as the Bonn government closed its embassy in Warsaw to the public because of refugees there. In East Berlin, the Communist regime accused the West German government of organizing the exodus of East Germans and charged that West German diplomats had disguised themselves as charity workers to facilitate the process.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl said a "dirty tricks" campaign waged by a state leader of his Christian Democratic Party was mainly to blame for the landslide victory of the opposition Social Democrats in Sunday's election in the West German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The Social Democrats won 46 seats in the 74-member state Parliament to end 38 years of Christian Democratic rule.