BERLIN - Beleaguered German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder geared up Tuesday for possible early elections with a party platform aimed at fighting off a strong challenge from conservative rival Angela Merkel and a mounting threat from the left.
Schroeder, whose Social Democrats (SPD) are trailing Merkel's Christian Union alliance by a 20-point margin in the polls, insisted the new "manifesto" was a clear continuation of his economic reform agenda but also included a defense of the social welfare system missing from the conservative program.
Party leaders agreed unanimously on the 41-page platform called "Trust in Germany" which offers more benefits for families with children, a tax surcharge for top earners to generate new funds for research, the introduction of a minimum wage and an overhaul of the state health system.
"The SPD is and will remain this decade's determining force for reform. That is what I stand for," Schroeder said.
"The election manifesto is a program for the cohesion of our entire society."
In a direct appeal to working parents, Schroeder said allowing Germans to combine families and careers was a "national undertaking" and said the SPD would work to guarantee that parents who stay home with their children can retain 67 percent of their net salary for up to one year.
The program also defends the SPD's priorities in foreign policy -- including Germany's right not to participate in wars launched by a key allies -- in a clear reference to Schroeder's vocal opposition to the US-invasion of Iraq which helped him win re-election in 2002.
He also stressed the strategic importance of European Union enlargement including the aim of one day integrating Turkey into the bloc -- a goal Merkel has adamantly rejected.
Merkel attacked the platform as long on pledges nearly impossible to realize.
"Here are promises being made where people know they will be broken again," she said.
Markus Soeder, general secretary of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party of Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, called it a "program of lies and fantasies" that would bust the public budget.
Beyond Merkel's increasingly popular bid to become Germany's first female chancellor, Schroeder is facing attacks from a new alliance of leftist SPD dissidents and the socialist successor to East Germany's communist party.
The grouping is currently polling at about 10 percent and threatens to rob Schroeder of crucial support on election day. The new SPD platform consciously integrates many of its pet issues including the minimum wage and higher taxes on the wealthy.
The new course is also aimed at correcting the widespread impression that the poorest members of German society are bearing the brunt of Schroeder's economic reforms amid record unemployment and stagnant growth.
The chancellor, who currently governs in a coalition with the Greens party, firmly ruled out any link-up with the leftists after the election.
Schroeder, battered by a string of state poll debacles, deliberately lost a no-confidence vote before parliament Friday in the hope of staging an election this autumn, one year ahead of schedule.
President Horst Koehler must decide by July 22 whether to grant his request, and the bid must also clear a constitutional court challenge. If it does, the general election is widely expected on September 18.
07/05/2005 16:37 GMT