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Merkel makes case for centre-right before election
Fri Sep 18, 2009 11:10am EDT
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By Madeline Chambers
BERLIN (Reuters) - Angela Merkel responded to critics of her election campaign on Friday, vowing to return Germany to sustained growth if voters give her both a new term and the center-right coalition that eluded her four years ago.
In a news conference the German leader called to unite her conservative ranks just over a week before the election, Merkel promised to move quickly to cut taxes in a coalition with the Free Democrats (FDP) and said the alternative, another "grand coalition," would be less effective in reviving the economy.
Conservative critics had accused her of failing to make a strong case for a center-right government in a televised debate on Sunday with her Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier -- a muted showdown moderators described as more "duet" than "duel."
Although her Christian Democrats (CDU) lead in opinion polls ahead of the September 27 vote, she could be forced into another left-right partnership with Steinmeier and the SPD if she drops a few points by election day.
"Above all, we need a growth oriented set of policies and I believe a new government with the FDP is the best way to achieve the policies," a relaxed-looking Merkel told a room packed with reporters.
A conservative-FDP government would move quickly to map out a framework for reforming income, corporate and inheritance taxes, she said
The German economy is poised to contract by up to 6 percent this year, its worst performance since World War Two.
The two latest polls, from the Electoral Research Group (FGW) and Infratest dimap, show Merkel's CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), with a 9-13 point lead over the SPD, although the gap has narrowed slightly in the last week or so.
Together, her conservative bloc and the business-friendly FDP enjoy a narrow majority over the other three mainstream parties -- the SPD, Greens and Left party.
But the center-right lead is so small that a ruling majority is not assured. Over a third of voters are still undecided, according to analysts.
STABILITY WARNING
Merkel said a second grand coalition, a combination that only existed once in post-war Germany before 2005, would be less stable and could struggle to forge compromises on new policy initiatives.
"History would not repeat itself in a second legislative period," she said. "The conditions are different now."
Merkel said she was heartened by recent opinion polls, but she is under pressure from her Bavarian CSU allies and members of her own CDU to run a more aggressive campaign and one which highlights her party's pro-business leanings.
"We are the party with the most economic know-how. That has to be pushed into the forefront," Josef Schlarmann, a conservative who represents small and medium-sized business, told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. Continued...
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