Butt Out

Intrusions stir a row

The government regards with concern the massive and hitherto unprecedented manner in which the Soviet Union is interfering in the election campaign and the internal politics of the Federal Republic of Germany." That unusually tough declaration came late last week from Juergen Sudhoff, a spokesman for Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic coalition. The reason for the outburst: Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko's appeal to West Europeans to show "political maturity" by disavowing the U.S. bargaining position at the Geneva talks on intermediate-range missiles. The Soviet statement was seen as a blatant boost for Hans-Jochen Vogel, 57, the opposition's Social Democratic candidate for Chancellor in the March 6 elections, since he has also been critical of the American position in Geneva.

Accusations of foreign interference have been a principal feature of what some West German political commentators have dubbed "the superpower election." Vogel's Social Democrats complained loudly last month when President Ronald Reagan said in a press conference that West German rejection of the new Pershing II missiles scheduled to be deployed by the end of this year would be a "terrible setback to the cause of peace and disarmament." Although Reagan did not express a preference for either candidate, the Social Democrats saw the statement as U.S. support for Kohl.

However contentious the missile issue has become for the superpowers, it is not uppermost in the minds of West Germans as they prepare to go to the polls on Sunday. "I don't get many questions about missile deployment any more," says a Social Democratic candidate. "The primary concerns are jobs and the economy." In the past 19 months, unemployment has doubled to more than 10%. Many factories are idle, and in December a record 1,257 firms went bankrupt.

The two major candidates have proposed sharply contrasting remedies. Since taking office last October after the collapse of Social Democratic Chancellor Helmut Schmidt's coalition, Kohl has tried to trim the federal deficit (projected at $18.5 billion for 1983) while offering tax incentives to spur new investment. Vogel has pledged to undo Kohl's reforms, and called for a $.3.5 billion program to create jobs. He has also suggested that the work week be reduced from 40 to 35 hours with no cut in pay. Vogel's program has alarmed businessmen, who fear that his proposals would increase labor costs, thereby making West German exports uncompetitive. The latest polls showed Vogel trailing Kohl, 49% to 43%. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.