German SPD chief Schulz hits out at 'arrogant' Merkel

PanARMENIAN.Net - Social Democrat chief Martin Schulz lashed out Sunday, June 25 at Chancellor Angela Merkel, accusing her of "arrogance" as he sought to reverse his party's plunging popularity three months before general elections, AFP reports.

Schulz's decision to take his party's reins initially jolted the Social Democratic Party (SPD) to life, but the trend has reversed.

With weeks to go before Germany heads to the polls on September 24, the SPD is trailing Merkel's centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) by 15 percentage points, according to a survey published Sunday by Bild am Sonntag.

Schulz was in a combative mood at Sunday's special congress gathering party rank-and-file to approve their campaign programme, with harsh words for Merkel whom he accused of launching an "attack against democracy" by "systematically refusing debate on the future of the country".

Merkel's tactic, he said, is to hold off on airing her views rather than engage, thereby making people lose interest in politics.

While the Social Democratic Party (SPD) takes position on issues, "the other side is silent," said Schulz.

"That's what one calls in circles in Berlin asymmetric demobilisation. I call it an attack against democracy," charged Schulz, whose party is a junior partner of Merkel's grand right-left coalition.

"The biggest danger is the arrogance of power," he warned.

But CDU general secretary Peter Tauber hit back quickly, saying on Twitter: "The desperation must be so deep that we democrats are being accused of attacks against democracy".

The general secretary of Merkel's Bavarian allies CSU, Andreas Scheuer, also told Passauer Neue Presse that the "personal attacks against the chancellor... show the huge helplessness of the SPD".