The question of demographic development

March 26, 2002     

On Friday, 22nd of March, the German upper house, the "Bundesrat", had to vote a decisive document. Important laws in Germany can pass the legislation process only by approval of this chamber, which is the convent of the German federal states. In this chamber the German ruling coalition (Social Democrats and Greens) and the conservative opposition (Christian Democrats and Liberals) are in balance.

The utterly important question of population policy which because of a process of 30 years has brought about conditions in the demographic development in Germany which are more extreme than in any other country, was before the house in the form of an important law. Germany has an extreme increase in the percentage of old people and a lack of births. In this law the present federal government, a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, had by no means provided for changes in the social conditions which virtually make it extremely difficult for today's normal wage-earners to raise children in this society, but presentend a so-called immigration law, by which the gaps existing already for a long time in the work force are to be closed by means of recruiting foreign work force, and moreover a transfer of so-called refugees and others into the country is intended, from which the ruling coalition hopes to recruit a social pillar for itself. They are seeking a strengthening of the social pillar for their imperialist policy of stagnation, of keeping up their decrepit bureaucratic structures in the own country, of protecting the structures of international exploitiation, as they are today, and finally of participating in military adventures. This immigration law, according to the view of many neswpaper correspondents, does not meet consent in the majority of the population.

In spite of this not only the majority of the German bourgeoisie is demanding this law, but it is being supported also by international organs, for example by press organs in the US and Great Britain.

Part of the employers are against this law because it further undermines the own social substance, and because they also are opposed to the forms of bureaucratism and public parasitism which especially with the present government parties are in good hands. For such reasons the Christian Democrats (Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union) opposed this law in spite of the pressure by the employers' umbrella associations, the trade union leaders, the associations of workshops, the so-called human rights advocates, the United Nations High Commissioner for the Refugees - with success. In spite of such a public pressure, thus, the majority for this law in the upper house was not achieved.
What did the representatives of the Social Democrats do now, who presently hold the rotating chair of this organ, representend by K. Wowereit, the present mayor of Berlin? The regulation in this chamber holds that a federal state can each vote only unanimously. If there are differing votes of a federal state, i.e. the government coalition of the federal state cannot reach an agreement, the votes of the state concerned are spoilt. This was the unequivocal case of the state of Brandenburg. The home secretary of this state, Schoenbohm, had spoken out against this law in a long speech and thus made his will very clear. When asked for his vote by the chairman, he once again clearly said No, whereas the representatives of the other coalition party of his government, Stolpe and Ziel, answered Yes. Thus the votes of this state were spoilt.
Although Wowereit had a clear instruction, presentend to him by the director of the upper house, Gerd Oschatz, to count the votes as spoilt in such a case, the vote of Brandenburg was counted in an extremely arbitrary and law-snubbing manner as a vote in favour of the Social Democratic-Green federal government. The so-called red-green coalition thus is going over to the direct manipulation of the law in the case when it does not have the majority. This is in fact a quite remarkable event in this country.
Similar to other cases when, for example in military moves, they publicly make black out of white and radically pervert the truth, they proceeded also now. Recklessly this proceeding which obviously is breaking the law, was presented as justified. This is immediately supported by the vast majority of the media in a current campaign. For a developed country which stresses so much the formal aspect of its democracy this is quite a remarkable occurrence. The employers' umbrella organisations have meanwhile even demanded that the rights of the upper house be restricted.

The occurrence demonstrates the explosive force of the population question in Germany. In the meantime also other nations as Japan, Italy, and even the US are hit by similar developments. This development concerns mainly the working people in this country who are partly decomposed and pressed down, partly corrupted, all of this on the fundament of the international exploitation.

This occurrence shows how the currents connected to the so-called green and alternative policy, which is particularly clear in the case of the so-called red-green coalition in Germany, are more and more going over to a behavior which is disgusting in public, criminal, and distorts the truth, and even are top in this regard. They even declare in front of the whole public that the problem of the demographic development, of the composition of the population, although it is concerning the whole population, must by no means be displayed and discussed in public. This, too, is a signal of what they understand by democracy.

Wrong information on the international level

The international public is being systematically disinformed about this occurrence. The Washington Post, for example, wrote:

"Schroeder's national coalition lacks a majority in the upper house which represents Germany's 16 states, and the final outcome came down to the decision of the state of Brandenburg, where a coalition of Schroeder's Social Democrats and the opposition Christian Democrats rule together.

In voting, the Brandenburg state government split along party lines. The president of the upper house, the Social Democratic mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, resolved the dispute by deciding that the state's Social Democratic governor would make Brandenburg's decision. He voted for the measure."

Here the very decisive point, that a split vote of the state is not admittable, and that completely unequivocally a breaking of the law in counting the votes was committed, is not mentioned. The well-known international forum MSNBC on March 23 maintained a stony silence on the event. With quite a large number of other international press organs it is very similar. This serious conflict is played down.

The vote-riggers' hope now turns to the federal president Rau who also belongs to their party, that he may give his blessing to their action which from the legal point of view is completely unequivocal. (In Germany, laws have to be checked and signed by the federal president in order to come into force., tr.s notice) They possess votes a lot in the German Constitutional Court (which might be invoked about the constitutionality of the passing of this law, tr.s notice) and the federal president as well, and calculate that their result will be secured virtually by force. In this question, too, in Germany it will matter that the resistance in this question does not subside, is not systematically throttled by the campaign of lies by the media. All people which oppose it are disparaged by the media campaign.
On the other hand the media dare also to put a completely peripheral point into center stage - that the Christian Democrats may have consulted among themselves in advance about expressing their indignation -, and to make the manipulation out to be something peripheral, unimportant. Instead of the manipulation they deal with the dispute's style. In hundred ways the problem is deliberately flogged to death in order not to let it find its expression. Very often, when in this country political theater is being played, these media talk of important political decisions. If, however, in this case there is a really essential conflict which catches hold also of the decisive political parties in this country, they talk of theater playing.

These events concerning exactly the demographic question in Germany make it clear how important this question is. Those manipulating the matter are themselves thus stressing what it is about in this question. They don't want a new trend in society, they want the dictate against large parts of the working people in its present form to be continued, they want that their decomposition is pushed and that all forms of resistance in today's crisis which is newly bridling itself, are fought. This must by no means happen only under openly racist key notes, but it can equally use key notes like those of Social Democracy, which amount to completely open decomposition.

Editorial staff of Neue Einheit
March 26, 2002