GERMANY: GERMANY'S OPPOSTION CONSERVATIVES ASSEMBLE IN ESSEN AHEAD OF ANNUAL MEETING

Record ID: 630371

  • Title: GERMANY: GERMANY'S OPPOSTION CONSERVATIVES ASSEMBLE IN ESSEN AHEAD OF ANNUAL MEETING
  • Date: 7th April 2000
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (APRIL 7, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. MV: ANGELA MERKEL, DESIGNATED CDU-PARTY LEADER, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS/MEDIA (2 SHOTS) 0.07 2. SV: SOUNDBITE (German) ANGELA MERKEL, DESIGNATED CDU-PARTY LEADER SAYING: "For me this debate is closed and I wouldn't repeat it constantly. You should not put your word above the law. Since (Former Chancellor) Helmut Kohl would not reveal the donors names (of 1 million US dollars in secret, and thus illegal, donations) we have agreed that it was impossible for him to continue to be our honourary chairman - but for me the debate is closed." 0.40 3. CU: TAPE RECORDER 0.43 4. MV: MERKEL SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS 0.47 5. SV: SOUNDBITE (German) MERKEL: (SAYING when asked who would be the CDU-candidate at the 2002 general election): "The time will not be right before 2002 and our job now is to bring the CDU out of its trough, overcome its crisis and become capable of winning a majority." 1.01 6. CU: SOUND MIXER 1.06 7. SV: SOUNDBITE (German) MERKEL: "I believe that the CDU needs to be made fit in the general interest and especially in Germanys interest. We have to make sure we are not moving to the edge of the European Union but rather to the centre. This means that Poland, the Czech Republic and other EU candidates are accepted and it will be a similar situation as with the euro: a few years ahead of the euros introduction Europe was not fit but it made itself fit. Thats why you have to define conditions and then the task will be possible if it seems important to you and it is important to us." 1.45 BONN, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS) 8. VARIOUS OF ANGELA MERKEL, THEN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, ATTENDING CABINET MEETING CHAIRED BY THEN CHANCELLOR HELMUT KOHL (4 SHOTS) 2.14 MORSLEBEN, GERMANY (FILE) (REUTERS) 9. VARIOUS OF ANGELA MERKEL, THEN ENVIRONMENT MINISTER, TOURING NUCLEAR WASTE DUMP AT MORSLEBEN (4 SHOTS) 3.01 BONN, GERMANY (FILE: 1998) (REUTERS) 10. VARIOUS OF ANGELA MERKEL AT CDU-PARTY CONVENTION, WITH THEN CHANCLLEOR AND CDU-PARTY LEADER HELMUT KOHL (5 SHOTS) 3.42 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd April 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA99JE8H3D923WOAA5OHTAOI1VX
  • Story Text: Germany's opposition conservatives assembled in Essen
    ahead of an annual meeting which looks set to see the party
    close ranks around Angela Merkel and endorse their first woman
    leader's call to put the scandal over former chancellor Helmut
    Kohl behind them.

    Christian Democrat leader Angela Merkel signalled a
    break on Friday (April 7) from her feuding
    predecessors as leader of Germanys opposition Christian
    Democrats, calling for an overhaul in style and substance to
    make the scandal-hit party electable again.

    In an interview with Reuters, Merkel said she wanted to
    end the CDUs fight with former Chancellor Helmut Kohl over his
    refusal to name the source of 1 million US dollars in secret,
    and thus illegal, donations at the centre of a funding affair.

    The scandal plunged the CDU into its worst crisis ever,
    but, instead of pressing Kohl yet again to come clean and name
    his benefactors, Merkel said it was time to move on.

    "You should not put your word above the law", she said, in
    a remark which emphasised the distance she has put between
    herself and her one-time political mentor."For me this debate
    is closed and I wouldn't repeat it constantly".

    Merkel -- a former physicist who grew up in communist East
    Germany -- sought to quash speculation over whether she will
    challenge Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the
    2002 election.

    "The time will not be right before 2002 and our job now is
    to bring the CDU out of its trough, overcome its crisis and
    become capable of winning a majority", she said.


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