F.D.P. Wants Adenauer’s Successor Named

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29990, 27 November 1962, Page 13

F.D.P. Wants Adenauer’s Successor Named

(N .ZPA.-Reuter—Copyright) BONN, November 26. The leader of the Free Democratic Party, Dr. Erich Mende, tonight appealed to his Christian Democrat coalition partners to say who will succeed Dr. Konrad Adenauer as West Germany’s Chancellor. He said on television that the uncertainty about the Chancellor’s successor had contributed greatly to the current “malaise” the Government crisis over the “Der Spiegel” affair.

Dr. Mende said his party was opposed to the Defence Minister (Mr Franz - Josef Strauss) taking over another Cabinet post in the forthcoming Government reshuffle.

The Christian Social Union, led by Mr Strauss, had made slight gains when a quarter of the votes in Bavaria’s State elections had been counted last night. If the trend continued the party would maintain its

position as Bavaria’s strongest, the West German news agency, DA.P. reported.

The Free Democrats at that stage trailed far behind, while the All-German Party and the Bavarian Party had suffered heavy losses. The ballot is expected to influence strongly the outcome of the Federal Government crisis in Bonn. Negotiations for a renewal of the Federal coalition will be resumed in Bonn on Tuesday. An outstanding success for Mr Strauss’s Christian Social Union, the Bavarian affiliate of the Christian Democrats, in yesterday’s election could strengthen his crumbling position on the Federal scene. The final decision on Mr Strauss lies with the Chancellor.

Both Dr. Adenauer and Mr Strauss have been resisting the pressure, but the 86-year-old Chancellor may have to sacrifice his Defence Minister to bolster his own position and appease the Free Democrats, political observers consider. In the last Bavarian State election, in 1958, there was a 76.6 per cent, poll with 45.6 per cent, of the votes going to the C.S.U., which is stronger in Bavaria than is its Federal parent in the rest of West Germany.

The main Bavarian parties are the C.S.U., the Social Democrats (30.8 per cent, of the 1958 poll), the All-Ger-man Party (8.6 per cent.), the Bavarian Party (8.1 per cent), and the Free Democrats (5.6 per cent.). The electorate is about 1,600,000. There was a 75.9 per cent, poll.