GERMANY: Candidate for Lower Saxony state premier speaks at final rally ahead of elections

Record ID: 213848

  • Title: GERMANY: Candidate for Lower Saxony state premier speaks at final rally ahead of elections
  • Date: 18th January 2013
  • Summary: BRAUNSCHWEIG, GERMANY (JANUARY 18, 2013) (REUTERS) CANDIDATE FOR LOWER SAXONY STATE PREMIER AND CURRENT MAYOR OF HANOVER, STEPHAN WEIL ARRIVING FOR FINAL SPD RALLY CAMERAMAN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (German) FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR AND FORMER LOWER SAXONY STATE PREMIER, GERHARD SCHROEDER, SAYING: "He will win, together with the Greens and that's a good thing. People in Lower Saxony know that we did well when we governed together with the Greens here because the SPD took care of jobs and the Greens took care of the environment." AUDIENCE APPLAUDING WEIL WALKING ONTO STAGE AND WAVING TO SUPPORTERS CANDIDATE FOR GERMAN CHANCELLOR IN SEPTEMBER NATIONAL ELECTIONS, PEER STEINBRUECK APPLAUDING VARIOUS OF WEIL ADDRESSING SUPPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) CANDIDATE FOR LOWER SAXONY STATE PREMIER AND CURRENT MAYOR OF HANOVER, STEPHAN WEIL, SAYING: "Half a percentage point this way or that way, pollsters are saying. Half a percentage point - imagine that - can decide on Sunday how Lower Saxony will continue. Dear friends, we are this close to a political change in Lower Saxony. Now let us really get to work. We won't give this away anymore. Let's get out and fight, dear friends." AUDIENCE APPLAUDING (SOUNDBITE) (German) CANDIDATE FOR GERMAN CHANCELLOR IN SEPTEMBER NATIONAL ELECTIONS, PEER STEINBRUECK, SAYING: "Yes, we need to address banks which help to evade taxes and tax fraud. (applause heard) These are foreign banks and I know what I'm talking about. Occasionally, I have traveled to Switzerland. My problem was never to enter the country but the problem was whether they would let me leave again." PHOTOGRAPHER TAKING PICTURES WIDE OF PODIUM WITH WEIL
  • Embargoed: 2nd February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAD5BQ8CS5KIFM5TXIOMRCXUEO
  • Story Text: Days before voters take to the polls in the northern German state of Lower Saxony on January 20th, the Social Democrat (SPD) candidate for state premier addressed supporters at a final rally in Braunschweig on Friday evening (January 18).
    "Half a percentage point - imagine that - can decide on Sunday how Lower Saxony will continue," Stephan Weil said, the current mayor of the state capital Hanover.
    "We are this close to a political change in Lower Saxony. Now let us really get to work. We won't give this away anymore. Let's go out and fight, dear friends," Weil told a cheering crowd.
    Lower Saxony, a sprawling region in western Germany, has been a political game-changer in the past and could well be so again in 2013.
    A decade and a half ago, Gerhard Schroeder's resounding victory in a state vote gave his SPD the momentum they needed to seize power nationally, after 16 years of conservative rule under Helmut Kohl.
    Former German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck of the SPD, who hopes to unseat Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Christian Democrats (CDU) in the September national elections, told Weil supporters that "we need to address banks which help to evade taxes and tax fraud."
    "These are foreign banks and I know what I'm talking about. Occasionally, I have traveled to Switzerland. My problem was never to enter the country but the problem was whether they would let me leave again," Steinbrueck said.
    Switzerland, buffeted by attacks on its vaunted banking secrecy, is eager to remove the taint from its financial industry.
    Steinbrueck upset Switzerland during a 2009 drive to clamp down on tax havens, likening Germany's small southern neighbour to "Indians" running scared from the cavalry. The remarks led a member of the Swiss parliament to compare him to the Nazis.
    Lower Saxony incumbent CDU state premier David McAllister is popular with voters. A recent poll showed 64 percent of voters view McAllister favourably, compared to just 33 percent for his regional SPD rival Stephan Weil.
    Yet, McAllister may still lose power. His coalition partners, the Free Democrats (FDP), are struggling to reach the 5 percent threshold needed to remain in the state assembly. Without an FDP partnership, McAllister could be booted out of office by a coalition of the SPD and the Greens.
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