Letter of Support To Bush Sparks Rift in German State

Matthias Platzeck, a state premier in Germany, shapes his political efforts around one motto: "Solve the problems of the state and don't try to solve the problems of the country and the world at the same time."

But other politicians in the eastern state of Brandenburg where Platzeck governs live by another political motto, and Platzeck is not happy about the product of their action.

Letter of support sent to Bush

The point of dispute is a letter that 16 state parliament members from Brandenburg and 13 from Berlin handed to the U.S. Embassy in the German capital on Thursday. In the letter, the 29 lawmakers from the conservative Christian Democratic Union express their unreserved support for President George W. Bush in his drive to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and harshly criticize Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who is also the chairman of Platzeck's party, the Social Democrats.

"The national government led by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has ruined our country economically in four and one-half years and is about to cause lasting damage to our national security interests," the letter says in an allusion to Schröder's opposition to a possible war against Iraq.

Normally, Platzeck would have to live with such comments as part of the regular political jabs that the country's two biggest parties regularly trade.

A fragile coalition

But in Brandenburg, the two parties are more than rivals; they are also partners in a coalition. As a result, Platzeck began to express doubts about whether he could continue to work in a coalition climate that had been so "seriously damaged."

"The real question is whether we want to devote ourselves to the work at hand or whether we want to be wrapped up in subjects like letters that are sent to America," he said in a radio interview on Thursday.

Other Social Democrats joined the criticism as well. The Social Democrats' business manager in Brandenburg threatened to end the coalition and begin negotiations with the Party for Democratic Socialism, the successor to East Germany's communist party, as a result of the comments. "If things keep going this way, then they will stop going completely," Klaus Ness said.

The leader of the Social Democrats' group in the German parliament also condemned the letter. "This fawning, the kowtowing is just embarrassing," Franz Müntefering said.

Responding to the attacks

One target of the criticism was Jörg Schönbohm (photo), the former general who leads the Christian Democrats in Brandenburg and who signed the letter. In face of the fire, Schönbohm tried to limit the damage. "The tone is misleading. I have to admit that," he said.

This is not the first time that the coalition has been shaken since its formation in 1999.

Last March, Platzeck's predecessor, Manfred Stolpe, nearly caused a permanent breach in the alliance during a vote on a national immigration proposal brought by Schröder's government in the Bundesrat, Germany's second legislative chamber. Schönbohm, the state's interior minister, objected to the plan, and the Social Democrat Stolpe supported it.

Under the parties' coalition agreement, the state would have to abstain in such cases. But Brandenburg's vote was counted as one in favor of the proposal.

Despite the fight, the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats were able to keep the coalition alive.

Platzeck and other high-ranking members of the state party planned to discuss the issue at a meeting on Friday evening.