Conservative leader Angela Merkel pushed her demand to serve as Germany's next chancellor while Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder clung to his competing claim as they readied yesterday for tough negotiations aimed at ending the country's political crisis.
The two were to meet yesterday for a round of summit talks along with Franz Muentefering, the chairman of Schroeder's Social Democrats, and Merkel's fellow conservative leader Edmund Stoiber.
Both sides said that the haggling could last through Sunday before Germans know who their next leaders is. If Schroeder and Merkel can decide which of them will back off, both parties are to hold leadership meetings on Monday that could endorse the beginning of formal talks on a "grand coalition" of Germany's two biggest political parties.
"We believe that we will have results on Sunday evening that are firm," Muentefering told reporters.
Muentefering said his party was keeping its aim of governing "with Gerhard Schroeder at the helm" -- although he appeared to suggest that was an aspiration rather than a demand. Merkel stuck firmly to her own demand that the Social Democrats recognize her right, as the leader of the largest group in parliament, to become Germany's first female chancellor.
"We have always said that, to start [formal] coalition negotiations, a further condition must be fulfilled -- a basis of trust must be created," Merkel told reporters. "This basis of trust can only be created if certain rules are respected."
She also insisted that her conservative bloc should get the job of parliament president, which traditionally goes to the strongest parliamentary group. The post has featured in speculation over how Schroeder's party could be persuaded to back down.
Merkel refused to say what inducements she might offer the Social Democrats.
Muentefering was similarly tightlipped about the chances of his party's lawmakers accepting a Chancellor Merkel, noting that a coalition would have to be endorsed by a party convention.
The two sides have been forced toward a so-called "grand coalition" because voters ousted Schroeder's seven-year government of Social Democrats and Greens on Sept. 18 but also denied the conservatives a majority for a center-right coalition.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
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