Push for Immediate Union of Germanys Gains Steam

Unions and political parties today demanded a vote on German unity as early as this week and said East Germany’s worried people and dying economy can only be helped by quickly dissolving the nation.

The Social Democrats, the second-biggest party in both German states, said they may seek to have East Germany’s Parliament vote Wednesday to unite with West Germany this month.

The small East German archconservative party, the German Social Union, said it will also propose Wednesday that the German states be unified.

But the Christian Democrats of West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl and East Germany Prime Minister Lothar de Maiziere said unity must wait for united German elections that they propose should be held Oct. 14--still, nearly two months earlier than had been planned.

The conflict threatened to break up De Maiziere’s broad coalition government and further fuel the political, economic and social upheaval in the young democratic nation.

At the heart of the debate is an intense political struggle by parties jockeying to use unification to their political advantage in united German elections.

Horst Ehmke, deputy chairman of the West German Social Democrats, said West Germany can best deal with the shambles of East Germany’s economy by immediately absorbing the former Communist nation.

“The economic, social and financial developments in (East Germany) are going downhill at such a speed that I would not be astonished if we had a very fast unity,” he said on West German radio.

The left-leaning Social Democrats in both nations planned to meet late today to decide whether to press this week for a vote on unification.

If their plan is approved, German unity would take place at the end of August.