Right Shows Might Germany's

Like the New Hampshire primary in the U.S. presidential process, the March 7 local elections in Germany's Hesse state offer a preview of voter mood as parties prepare for a long run-up to federal elections. The Hessian mood, as it turns out, was bad. The far-right Republikaner party, led by a former SS soldier, won a shocking 8.3% with a campaign that blamed unemployment and housing shortages on an influx of foreigners. In Frankfurt, Germany's banking capital, Republikaners scored 9.5% and in some smaller towns up to 15%. Most of the right's gains came from the left. The Social Democratic Party fell from a dominating 44.8% to 36.4%; the difference was almost equal to the percentage won by the right. Mainstream politicians fear that the trend will continue through the series of 18 more state and municipal elections scheduled between now and federal elections, to be held in October 1994. Chancellor Helmut Kohl grumbled that inter-party squabbling has presented "a miserable picture" of his government. The opposition SPD's Bjorn Engholm warned that further inroads by extremists will threaten Germany's "stability." He could be right. Already there have been 136 attacks on foreigners this year; two resulted in deaths.