UNREST IN THE RANKS

The German SPD is going through some tough times. Even though they managed, with the Greens, to keep control of the federal government last fall (partly by playing to anti-American sentiment), they've lost big in several regional elections since then. Now there is unrest in the ranks as well. Schroeder's government reform plans have met with criticism from unions and from the left wing of his party. As today's Tagesspiegel notes, a dissenting faction in the party has gotten itself organized. They even have a glitzy new website, www.mitgliederbegehren.de. (It looks a lot like the official SPD page, which you can see here.)

The Tagesspiegel article is filled with a lot of insider baseball on the subject matter; the basic point is that the SPD leadership is spooked by the dissenting members, one of whom has publicly pledged to resign his Bundestag seat if they are not successful in challenging Schroeder's reforms. Things will come to a head on June 1st in a special party meeting at which Schroeder's leadership of the party will be subject to vote. The Tagesspiegel argues that Schroeder's agreement to hold the meeting is a sure sign that he's worried about containing the dissent in his own ranks.

You might want to rethink your plans to enjoy the end of May in Berlin, though, as this article notes. There's a big church meeting, a big soccer tournament, "Children's Day" festivities, a Kelly Family concert (more on them later), and the SPD meeting. Ah, life in the big city.