E. Germans Seek Coalition, Vow to Destroy Berlin Wall

EAST BERLIN — East Germany’s newly elected political leaders began the search for a coalition government Monday as the pace of German unification once again moved toward full throttle.

At his first post-election news conference, Lothar de Maiziere, leader of the victorious conservative Christian Democrats and the man likely to become East German prime minister, announced that one of the first acts of the new government would be the demolition of the Berlin Wall.

“As a clear sign of the growing together of Germany, the wall should be removed as fast as possible,” he said.

The results of East Germany’s first-ever free elections Sunday left the three-party group called the Alliance for Germany, led by De Maiziere’s Christian Democrats, just a few seats short of a clear majority in the 400-seat Parliament.

De Maiziere called on other parties Monday to join his coalition in a still broader coalition to steer the country through the unification process with West Germany.

“If possible, we want to build a grand coalition, so we therefore invite the Social Democrats and the Free Democrats for discussions,” he said.

He excluded only the Communists as a possible coalition partner. The Communists, who now call themselves the Democratic Socialist Party, captured an impressive 16% of the popular vote, a development that analysts said reflected a level of anxiety among East Germans about the impending political changes. They also ran a polished, creative campaign built around their affable new leader, Gregor Gysi.

The runner-up Social Democrats, who had campaigned on a platform of a more measured pace toward unification, initially seemed to reject De Maiziere’s coalition offer, but most analysts expect an eventual compromise.

“There’s a certain readiness on the (Social Democratic) side,” commented a respected European diplomat. “Everyone seems to accept that the decisive decisions to alter the course of the country require a broad consensus.”

De Maiziere, a soft-spoken lawyer, is expected to be chosen prime minister when Parliament meets for the first time early next week.

Some leading German politicians predicted that the election result could bring a currency union between the two Germanys as early as mid-year.

“Monetary union will come with fair certainty by June 30,” predicted Elmar Pieroth, a former West Berlin city official likely to become economics minister in the new East German government.

West German Economics Minister Helmut Haussmann reportedly named June or July as the likely timing for such a move.

However, a West German government spokesman in Bonn cautioned that a currency union would still “take some time” because it required substantial East German economic reform.

Introducing the West German deutschemark, one of the world’s strongest currencies, into East Germany is seen as a key step toward unification.

It is also viewed as a necessary step to halt the flow of East German refugees to the West.

Between Jan. 1 and election day, more than 140,000 East Germans crossed the inner German border for permanent resettlement in the West, according to West German government figures.

(West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl said the West German Cabinet will consider today the possibility of reducing or eliminating completely the liberal package of benefits offered to these refugees.)

In an election dominated by the unification issue, the Christian Democrats campaigned on a platform of unity as fast as possible. They were heavily backed during the campaign by Kohl, leader of West Germany’s Christian Democrats.

Speaking at a news conference in Bonn, Kohl pledged West German support and action to East German voters.

“We will not disappoint the expectations of the East German voters,” Kohl said. “The hope and trust they’ve placed in us must be justified. . . . “

While Kohl had promised aid to East Germany previously, it had quickly become clear that he had nothing to give to the caretaker, Communist-led government that followed the collapse of the country’s neo-Stalinist regime late last year.

Kohl also predicted that the results of voting in East Germany would help his party when it faces West German voters in December.

The extent of the three-party alliance’s victory sent a jolt of excitement through both countries.

The Monday editions of the mass circulation Bild Zeitung, a paper read daily by 5 million West Germans, carried a giant one-word headline, “ Ja “--”Yes!”--colored in the black, red and yellow hues of Germany’s national colors.

Prices on the Frankfurt stock exchange jumped 17 points, the deutschemark strengthed against most major currencies and financial analysts voiced buoyant forecasts.

“I am totally optimistic for the German market,” Klaus Heintzen, a senior share trader at Bankhaus Bethmann, told the British news agency Reuters.

As municipal employees cleared away the debris of post-election celebrations in East Berlin, locals talked politics animatedly in crowded sidewalk cafes along East Berlin’s Friedrichstrasse.

In diplomatic missions in the East German capital, envoys were also suddenly discussing dates for important moves such as the monetary union.

With leaders in both Germanys committed to swift reunification, political analysts Monday also talked of the form that it might take.

One diplomat familiar with the political makeup in both countries said he expects substantive talks on economic and monetary union to progress quickly after the new East German government is formed. A joint official-level commission has already held three rounds of talks on the issue.

A West German official who declined to be identified said the two Germanys would most likely negotiate an accord committing East Germany to the West German constitution.

Such a commitment would likely be qualified by a series of specific conditions to guarantee certain unique aspects of East German society, he said.

The Christian Democrats had urged unity through such a method, while the Social Democrats had wanted a completely new constitution.

NEXT STEP

Look for East Germany’s largest parliamentary group--the Alliance for Germany--to try to pick up enough support from smaller parties to gain a majority in the legislature. The Alliance will then propose its candidate for prime minister, and once the nominee wins approval from a simple majority of deputies, he will try to form the nation’s first democratic government.

EAST GERMANY--THE FINAL TALLY

Following are the final, official of Sunday’s elections, with percentage of votes and number of seats in the new 400-member Parliament. Alliance for Germany:

Christian Democrats: 40.91%: 164 seats

German Social Union: 6.32%: 25 seats

Democratic Awakening: 0.92: 4 seats Social Democrats: 21.84%: 87 seats Party of Democratic Socialism: 16.33%: 65 seats Union of Free Democrats, the Liberals: 5.28%: 21 seats Alliance 90 (New Forum, Democracy Now, Initiative Peace and Human Rights): 2.90%: 12 seats Democratic Farmers Party: 2.19%: 9 seats Greens and Independent Women’s Union: 1.96%: 8 seats National Democratic Party: 0.39%: 2 seats Democratic Women’s Union: 0.33%: 1 seat United Left: 0.18%: 1 seat alternative Youth List: 0.13%: 1 seat