'Stasi' slurs boost Brandenburg leader
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Your support makes all the difference.DESPITE accusations of shady dealings with East Germany's former Stasi secret police, Manfred Stolpe, Prime Minister of the eastern state of Brandenburg, seems to be going from strength to strength.
Yesterday, he comfortably survived a parliamentary vote on a motion calling on him to resign. Earlier in the week, an opinion poll showed he enjoyed a 72 per cent approval rating in Brandenburg. 'The Stasi allegations - none of which have been proved - have simply helped to boost Mr Stolpe's position,' said Michael Donnermeyer, the Brandenburg spokesman for Mr Stolpe's party, the Social Democrats (SPD). 'Many people here see it all as a Western (German) plot to topple him: and they have rallied to his support.'
The resignation vote was called by the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) after one of the SPD's partners, Alliance 90, deserted the ruling coalition last month, claiming Mr Stolpe lied about his Stasi links.
In the fuss over the coalition break-up, the CDU proposed elections in Brandenburg planned for September be brought forward to June. Given Mr Stolpe's enduring popularity, it was a dangerous ploy. Aware that he would be returned to power with ease, Mr Stolpe ordered the SPD to back the proposal.
In the event, the motion did not carry - because the CDU members themselves voted against it. 'Are you going to change your minds again tomorrow?' taunted opponents of the CDU in the parliamentary debate.
With its popularity in Brandenburg running at only six per cent, the CDU appears destined for a crushing defeat in the state poll. On the national level, the CDU, led by Chancellor Helmut Kohl, is not faring so badly. Although trailing the SPD by about five percentage points, opinions polls show the gap may be closing.
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