Party rebuke seen in vote

Press, 19 July 1983, Page 11

Party rebuke seen in vote

By PAUL RADFORD, of Reuter (through NZPA) Munich Franz Josef Strauss, for long the strong man of West German politics, now faces a sudden erosion of his Bavarian power base, placing a question mark over his political future. The 67-year-old Bavarian Minister-President, undisputed leader of the Christian Social Union for 22 years, suffered a shock reverse with the lowest-ever vote for his re-election as party leader at a union congress at the week-end. He recieved just 662 of the 949 delegates’ votes, almost 200 fewer than at the last poll, in 1981. Mr Strauss appeared to have seriously overestimated the extent to which he could command the loyalty of union members; coming unstuck over an apparent about-turn in normally tough approach to East Germany. - _ Diplomats say that the result has seriously undermined his authority and he may no longer feel confident that he can continue to pull all the union strings' and exert a serious influ-

ence in Bonn, the Federal capital His role in arranging a 1 billion mark ($4OO million) credit to East Berlin seemed at odds with his calls, since forming a Centre-Right coalition under the Chancellor, Dr Helmut Kohl, in October, for a hardening in the moderate policy towards the East which had been pursued by previous Left-Liberal administrations. The credit deal shocked and angered many of his supporters, particularly on the extreme Right, and was the main factor in the election result. An obviously bitter Mr Strauss left the meeting and conferred with party officials. He told them that he would not make the usual closing address to congress, arguing that there was no longer a quorum in the hall. Then he left for a -"private visit to Czechoslovakia, Poland, and East Germany. It was the second serious set-back for Mr Strauss this year and it inevitably renewed speculation about his political future. He had set ' his sights on becoming Foreign Minister after the

Federal General Election in March but Dr Kohl, anxious to restrict his influence in Bonn, denied him the post and succeeded in keeping him out of the Cabinet. Having lost the first round Mr Strauss soon made it clear that he intended to be a powerful political force from his Munich base, able to command the loyal support of the Christian Social Union’s 53 deputies in the Federal Bundestag (Lower House). Newspapers began referring to him as “Foreign

Minister in waiting” as he launched initiatives towards the Soviet Bloc, visiting Rumania in May for talks with the President, Mr Nicolae Ceausescu, and meeting East German officials to discuss the loan. As the credit deal and Mr Strauss’s role in it was revealed over the last three weeks the chorus of protest in the union has grown. A Party deputy, Franz Handles, resigned from the union, accusing Mr Strauss of running a one-man democracy. A close Strauss aide, Dr Edmund Stoiber twice called on the Bavarian Cabinet to sign affiddavits denying that they had spoken to a Munich newspaper which expressed criticism of the credit deal based on Cabinet leaks. The move was widely viewed as an over-reaction inspired by Mr Strauss. Mr Strauss, in an attempt at irony in a speech on Friday, welcomed the “puppets in.the Bavarian Cabinet” to a beer-hall reception and called himself the “crowned king of Bavaria.” Many delegates did not enjoy the sarcastic joke and. jeered and whistled at him.

In his congress speech on Saturday Mr Strauss told delegates that he needed room for political manoeuvre and argued he had not changed direction on East Germany. The loan was a humanitarian move, he said, hinting that a concession would come in return from East Berlin. Dr Kohl, leader of the Christian Democratic Union, had a much better reception when he followed Mr Strauss to the rostrum. Although he urged delegates to be patient with results from the credit deal, diplomats say that he is not altogether displeased about Mr Strauss’s embarrassment. They say that Dr Kohl appears to have succeeded in drawing Mr Strauss into the Federal Government’s plans to continue “Ostpolitik”—its policy towards the East—while landing him in hot water with the union. Mr Strauss expected to come out with the kudos for East German concessions, including the recent easing of border restrictions, but his plans have largely back-