GERMANY: GERHARD SCHROEDER NAMED SPD CANDIDATE FOR CHANCELLOR

(17 Apr 1998) German/Nat
Gerhard Schroeder, the hugely popular pro-business Social Democrat, has been formally endorsed as the party's candidate for German chancellor in the September 27 elections.
Schroeder presented a bold market-friendly campaign on Friday in a bid to topple Chancellor Helmut Kohl and end 16 years of conservative rule.
At a slick American-style convention in Leipzig intended to herald the arrival of a new political generation in Germany, Schroeder accused Kohl's government of "paralysis, stagnation and crippling pessimism".
The German Social Democrat Party (SPD) convention was held here at the Leipzig congress centre on Friday.
Outside, the party's slogan - "The Power of the New" - adorned a massive advertisement hoarding.
Inside, delegates gathered to decide whether to endorse Gerhard Schroeder as the party's candidate for German chancellor in the September 27 elections.
Some of the 480 delegates clapped rhythmically to a Hollywood-style anthem as Schroeder entered the convention hall with party chairman Oskar Lafontaine, who represents the party's left wing.
In the audience, Schroeder's wife clapped enthusiastically.
In the image of U-S President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the 54-year-old Schroeder embodies the left's efforts to tone down ideology, capture the political centre and rally voters tired of the Kohl era.
Schroeder accused Kohl's government of increasing social divisions, running down the universities and failing to modernise an over-regulated economy.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"My main accusation against Kohl and his government is that they are not able to gather the creative energy of the people and lead them into the next millennium."
SUPER CAPTION: Gerhard Schroeder, German Social Democrat candidate
Schroeder presented a bold market-friendly campaign in a bid to topple Chancellor Helmut Kohl and end 16 years of conservative rule.
He claimed the party was what Europe needed.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"Only when Germany is led by the Social Democrats will Europe get an urgent impulse.
SUPER CAPTION: Gerhard Schroeder, German Social Democrat candidate
Signalling overwhelming party unity, the last Social Democratic chancellor and conservative stalwart, Helmut Schmidt, endorsed Schroeder.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"Let's start a new era on our old continent. That is what we say and promise to our friends in the socialist international."
SUPER CAPTION: Gerhard Schroeder, German Social Democrat candidate
After his speech, delegates voted on whether to endorse Schroeder as the party's candidate for German chancellor in the September 27 elections.
Unopposed, he received 93 per cent of the delegate votes.
After minimal debate, delegates also approved a platform Schroeder says is the party's most market-oriented ever.
The platform mixes calls for deregulation, promoting risk capital and tax relief for middle-income families with old left-wing ideals, such as scrapping nuclear power.
But its overall tone - that Germans must face competition in the global economy and welcome new technologies - signals a modernised image for the nation's oldest party.
The top goal, it says, is fighting Germany's record unemployment, which now stands at nearly five (m) million.
The 68-year-old Chancellor Kohl is trailing in the polls and has been hard pressed to quash grumbling among his Christian Democrats that he is too old to lead Germany into the new millennium.
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