1 Party Quits East German Coalition; 2nd May Follow

A political party bolted East Germany’s coalition government today, and another group threatened to follow suit in a political crisis over German unity.

The centrist Liberal party, which holds 21 seats in the 400-member Parliament, said it is leaving the seven-party governing coalition of Premier Lothar de Maiziere.

The left-leaning Social Democrats, the second-biggest party in East Germany, have also threatened to resign from the broad coalition government.

This could leave De Maiziere in control of only about 198 of the 400 seats in Parliament.

The Liberals’ announcement was made after De Maiziere met with members of the Social Democrats and the Liberals.

Rainer Ortleb, chairman of the Liberal faction in Parliament, criticized as “scandalous” De Maiziere’s informal alliance with the deposed former Communists in a dispute over German elections.

The dispute is over whether elections to elect a single German Parliament should be held separately in each nation or whether the two countries should be treated as a single electorate.

The election process could determine whether West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl or the rival Social Democrats head the government of a unified nation.

De Maiziere and several smaller parties, including the former Communists, want the two nations to formally unify immediately after elections are held Dec. 2.

Simultaneous elections would be held in each nation. The votes would be counted separately, and political representation would be based on how each party did in its own country.

Under De Maiziere’s proposal, smaller parties in East Germany--including the Communists--would stand a better chance of winding up in the united Parliament.

That would help Kohl’s Christian Democrats, who want some of the smaller conservative parties to win Parliament seats so they can forge a governing majority with them.

The Social Democrats believe that they would be hurt by separate elections because a proliferation of small leftist parties could split the left-leaning representation in Parliament.

If the Social Democrats join the Liberals in leaving the coalition, De Maiziere could try to form a new government or govern with a minority.

The Christian Democrats finished first in the nation’s democratic elections on March 18 and the Social Democrats finished second.

The seven-party coalition won control of the two-thirds majority needed to approve unification with West Germany.