Kohl: Last 3 Weeks the Stormiest for Bonn Chief

Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s coalition government has been severely shaken by the stormiest three weeks of its 2 1/2 years in power, triggering an urgent review of West German domestic policies and aggravating simmering disquiet within the coalition.

The chancellor’s inability to forge agreement at the seven-nation economic summit on issues important to West Germany tarnished his credentials as a statesman.

Although most West Germans applauded President Reagan’s controversial wreath-laying at the Bitburg war cemetery, many were dismayed by Kohl’s inept handling of the visit.

But the most devastating blow to Kohl’s political fortunes came a few days after Reagan’s departure, when Kohl’s party was crushed in the May 12 election in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state in West Germany.

Worst-Ever Defeat

Kohl’s Christian Democrats had not been expected to win in the state, which has been ruled by the opposition Social Democrats since 1966. Still, the party’s worst-ever defeat there sent shock waves through the governing coalition.

The chancellor’s weak performance in foreign affairs, capped by the election loss, unleashed a wave of criticism against his relaxed, seemingly lackadaisical style and raised questions about his government’s policies.

Much of the criticism has come from within the coalition itself. Franz Josef Strauss, head of the Christian Democrats’ sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, declared, “Kohl must, at long last, start governing.”

Kohl’s interior minister, Friedrich Zimmerman, complained in a May 19 television interview about Kohl’s lack of support for his initiatives and his slow reaction time in moving to resolve differences within the coalition. Kohl said Zimmerman’s criticism was “astounding,” but the interior minister’s colleagues quickly came to his defense.

Such internal squabbling is considered especially damaging in a country where the voters give a high priority to strong, decisive leadership.

“This intemperance has to stop immediately,” said Wolter von Tiesenhausen, chief spokesman for the Christian Democrats. “Members of our party can’t understand why this has all had to become public.”

Demoralized, in Disarray

Dissension in the coalition has been a windfall for the Social Democrats, who until just a few months ago were demoralized and in disarray.

On Tuesday, when Hans-Jochen Vogel, the opposition leader in Parliament, proposed a $6-billion plan to increase investment and employment, he did so with unaccustomed aplomb.

Vogel, asked if his proposal was a criticism of Kohl’s policies, described it as constructive and said that the most stinging comments directed against the chancellor had come from within the coalition.

Although the attacks on Kohl are widely seen as being among the most damaging since he came to power in October, 1982, his position as chancellor appears to be secure.

Despite its internal conflicts, the coalition shows no sign of collapsing, and so far there has been no fundamental challenge to Kohl’s leadership. The only man regarded as a serious possible alternative, Finance Minister Gerhard Stoltenberg, is believed to be totally loyal to Kohl.

High Unemployment

Nevertheless, the defeat in North Rhine-Westphalia, which is attributed in part to the government’s failure to combat high unemployment, along with stringent economic policies that have curtailed inflation but hurt pensioners and farmers, has already forced Kohl to make some political course corrections, and more are expected.

In an attempt to woo back farmers unhappy with Kohl’s support for an end to European Economic Community milk-support prices, the minister of agriculture threatened earlier this month to exercise West Germany’s Common Market veto to block proposed reductions in cereal prices. This was embarrassing to Kohl, who has led the fight to abolish the veto and institute majority rule in the community.

On Wednesday, Kohl called his party’s leaders to the chancery to discuss a number of measures, including alternative ways of dealing with unemployment, now running at more than 2.5 million or nearly 10% of the work force.

The Christian Democrats expect that a recently enacted law that permits employers to take on new workers without the usual guarantee of long-term employment will generate 200,000 new jobs.

Financial Incentives

Also, the government has agreed to offer additional financial incentives to coax foreign workers to return home. This would open their jobs to West German nationals.

Under discussion is a proposal that the government abandon its strict fiscal discipline by releasing funds to stimulate investment in both the private and public sectors. This fiscal discipline has helped reduce inflation to less than 2.5% and stimulated economic growth but has done little to reduce unemployment.

Party sources say that in the long run, such tight economic policies, along with a painful but overdue restructuring of West Germany’s antiquated industrial base, is the best way to ensure the country’s economic future. They admit, however, that the policy is difficult to sell and politically risky, because it is slow to yield results.

Federal elections are scheduled for March, 1987, and the coalition’s chances could be severely weakened unless unemployment begins to come down soon.

“Somehow, we have to show our policies can work,” party spokesman Von Tiesenhausen said. “We have to bring unemployment down below 2 million by the end of next year.”

As Kohl struggled to recover from his latest political adversities, he also came up against new difficulties with longstanding problems.

Ties With East Berlin

His attempt to improve relations with Communist East Germany was dealt a blow Monday when the president of East Germany’s Parliament, Horst Sindermann, canceled a planned trip to Bonn after learning that he would not be received in the West German Parliament building.

Aggressive statements from groups representing people expelled from the eastern territories of the old German Reich after World War II also continue to be a source of political embarrassment for Kohl, complicating his efforts to improve relations with Poland, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union.

Kohl plans to address these people next month despite their rejection of West German government statements that there is no longer any claim to their former homelands.

An organization of people expelled from Silesia described their experience as the “holocaust of expellees,” and complained that the people responsible had not been punished.