West Germany: The Flashing Knives

It was a tragic and ironic spectacle. For almost 17 years, Ludwig Erhard had been lionized as the No. 1 vote getter of West Germany’s ruling Christian Democratic Union. On his prestige, scores of C.D.U. politicians had ridden to election victories. Many of them were seated before him last week in the caucus room of the Bundeshaus in Bonn. They knew that they had been summoned to watch as Erhard’s enemies tightened the pressure on him to resign. But no one knew whether the Chancellor would turn with a roar on his tormentors or go along with those who had been gently urging him to quit.

As it turned out, Erhard did neither. His blue eyes watery and his shoulders hunched, he stood grimly at the podium. He would step aside, he said, but only if he failed to form a new government that commanded a majority of the votes in the Bundestag. Thus he intended to go back to the Free Democrats whose sudden resignation from the Cabinet two weeks ago over budget problems had left the Chancellor with a minority government. If that failed, said Erhard, “I am not stuck to my office, but I do claim participation in all further negotiations.”

The Elbow. Erhard’s decision to avoid a showdown brought sighs of relief from the Brutuses within his party who had been fearful of the consequences to their own reputations if they bloodied their hands in public. But there was little chance that Erhard would succeed in forming a new coalition government.

For one thing, the Free Democrats were now saying that they would not rejoin a Cabinet under Erhard. Burly, ambitious Franz Josef Strauss, who is boss of the Bavarian wing of the Christian Democrats, was elbowing Erhard by threatening to pull his six ministers out of the government unless the Chancellor went ahead and stepped down. And the C.D.U.’s Deputy Leader Rainer Barzel, who had been instrumental in forcing Erhard to face the caucus, was now maneuvering to isolate Erhard from any remaining support. About the only Erhard enemy not on the scene was flinty old (90) Konrad Adenauer. Though he had sniped mercilessly at Erhard almost from the day in 1963 that he handed the job over to him, the ex-Chancellor was strangely quiet, presumably recovering from the effects of a bad cold.

The opposition parties will not give Erhard any breathing time. Since they were leading in the polls, the Social Democrats were trying to force new national elections. They vowed that they would demand that the Chancellor submit to a Bundestag vote of confidence this week. It seemed highly unlikely that . he would oblige, and some Socialists were plotting with the Free Democrats to combine the votes of the two groups just long enough to elect a new Chancellor—whose sole act would be to call for new national elections.

Complicated Criteria. The pressure was on the Christian Democrats to select a successor to Erhard before the Socialists and the Free Democrats had time to develop their scheme. Choosing a leader in the C.D.U. is not an easy matter. Like West Germany itself, the party is a curious combination of Protestants and Catholics, of devout Gaullists and passionate Atlanticists, of old-fashioned free-enterprisers and newfangled welfare-state advocates. A candidate for Chancellor must have a power base within one group while at the same time not being totally unacceptable to the other factions. Furthermore, since at present the C.D.U. is a minority government, the candidate must also pass muster with the potential coalition partner. It was far from certain which of the men whose names were being bruited about in Bonn last week would meet the demanding criteria. The leading candidates: >Gerhard Schroder, 56, Erhard’s Foreign Minister. A devoted Atlanticist and Protestant, Schroder has strong support in the Protestant North and in the Ruhr. He is Erhard’s choice for the jcb, would thus get support from members who resent the manner in which the Chancellor has been buffeted about. Among his handicaps: Gaullists dislike his pro-American policies, and Bavarian Boss Strauss may still hold an old grudge against him.

>Rainer Barzel, 42, the C.D.U. Deputy Leader. Catholic Barzel has floor-managed all important legislation in the Bundestag since 1964. But his strength rests principally among the Deputies, and he has only a scattered popular following. Though he is a clever political tactician, many Germans consider

Barzel something of a fast operator, and some resent his thinly veiled ax job on Erhard. Prospective coalition partners are apt to be wary of Barzel because they have too often felt his sting in the Bundestag.

> Kurt Georg Kiesinger, 62, Minister President of Baden-Wurttemberg. If Schroder and Barzel block each other’s chances, the choice might fall on Kiesinger, an imposing white-haired figure with great self-assurance and no major enemies, who was Konrad Adenauer’s chief foreign-affairs spokesman from 1949 to 1958. He is a Catholic without being so much of a one that he offends the party’s Protestants. A handicap is a Nazi past. He served during the war as a liaison officer between the Foreign Ministry and Goebbels’ Propaganda Ministry.

> Eugen Gerstenmaier, 60, President of the Bundestag. Though Konrad Adenauer last month publicly endorsed him for the chancellorship, Gerstenmaier has failed so far to make a bid for the job. Instead, he is waiting for a draft. Like Kiesinger, his hopes rest on a deadlock between the frontrunners. An active Protestant, Gerstenmaier has an irreproachable anti-Nazi past, was sentenced to prison as one of the conspirators in the July 20, 1944, attempt on Hitler’s life.

“Keep It Up!” Back in Bonn, Erhard received U.S. Roving Ambassador Averell Harriman and listened to a report on the Manila Conference. He also received British Foreign Secretary George Brown and chatted about the prospects for Britain’s entry into the Common Market. He journeyed to nearby Hesse to campaign for C.D.U. candidates in this week’s state elections. “I hear that people want me to throw in the towel,” said Erhard to one crowd. “I don’t need a towel. Let those use the towel who have dirtied their hands, but my hands are clean.” Chanted the crowd: “Keep it up, Erhard!”