Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990 TAG: 9003222452
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: EAST BERLIN LENGTH: Medium
But one of the parties invited to join the Cabinet immediately refused, making it much more difficult for the conservatives to achieve a two-thirds majority in Parliament. Such a majority would allow Parliament to simply declare a merger with the West.
Sunday's vote culminated a peaceful democratic revolution that toppled hard-line Communists five months ago. About 93 percent of the 12.2 million eligible voters cast ballots, and the results reflected sentiment that the faster East Germany is joined with its prosperous neighbor the better.
Lothar de Maiziere, who is likely to become premier, said today that the remainder of the Berlin Wall must be torn down "as soon as possible as a clear sign of the merging of the two German states."
De Maiziere, chairman of the top-ranking Christian Democratic Party, also said in a post-election news conference that talks with the West German government on monetary, economic and social union must be accelerated.
The Christian Democrats received more votes than any party in Sunday's election. They are the leading party in the three-party Alliance for Germany, which won 48.2 percent of the vote and 193 of the 400 parliamentary seats. That was more than pre-election polls predicted.
The vote marked the first time East Germans were given a free choice at polls after a decade of the Nazis and 41 years of Communist dictatorship.
De Maiziere, reading a statement by the alliance, said the group "wanted to build a possible grand coalition."
"Therefore, we are inviting the Social Democrats and the Union of Free Democrats to coalition talks," he said.
Social Democratic leader Ibrahim Boehme said his party, which favors reunification at a slower pace than the alliance, had decided against entering a coalition with the conservatives.
The Social Democrats were early pre-election favorites but fell behind in polls after the alliance received massive backing from West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Like the alliance, Kohl supports speedy unification.
The Social Democrats placed a distant second, with 21.8 percent and 87 seats. The Union of Free Democrats, a centrist party that also supports slower reunification, won 5.3 percent, or 21 seats.
Boehme said the Social Democrats had also decided against entering a coalition with the Communist party, which sought their support to prevent conservatives from achieving the two-thirds parliamentry majority.
The Communists, who ruled the nation with an iron fist before being toppled in October, won 16.3 percent of the votes and 65 seats. The party, renamed the Party of Democratic Socialism, cautioned that rapid reunification would hurt East Germany.
The rest of the vote was divided among 20 smaller parties and groupings, including such diverse contenders as the Beer Drinkers' Party. It won just .02 percent of the vote, not enough to have a seat in parliament.
Interestingly, the vanguard of the pro-democracy revolution that made the election possible fared poorly. New Forum, in an alliance with two other groups, ended with just 2.9 percent of the vote. It will have 12 seats in Parliament.
The United States and Britain praised the orderly election. The campaigning was harsh, but no irregularities were reported in voting.
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher called the election a new beginning for East Germany and another step in the spread of democracy through central and eastern Europe.
The White House called it a "historic occasion." There was no immediate comment from Washington on the final results.
by CNB