Gerhard Schroeder launches his own Little Red Book

Berlin, Nov 20: Thirty-seven years after the start of the cultural revolution in China, will German citizens take to the streets brandishing copies of their very own Little Red Book?
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and his team have been widely distributing their own red pamphlet, not of quotes, but explaining his government's controversial "Agenda 2010" economic and social reform package.

The programme is aimed at cutting spending on health, pensions and social welfare, streamlining the job market, relaxing employment legislation, encouraging people back to work and lowering taxes to boost consumer spending.
But it has been largely blamed for seeing the popularity of Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) plummet to historic lows in opinion polls.

The booklet's layout is simple: "Agenda 2010, Germany on the Move" reads the title on the fire engine-red booklet, the size of a rail timetable.
Around 3.8 million copies have been printed by the chancellery information service and a communications firm in the Berlin suburb of Kreuzberg, and will be made available in around 100 train stations throughout Germany.
Next month, the reform bible will be reprinted as a supplement in several national and state newspapers.

It has cost 1.1 million euros (1.3 million dollars) but the government believes it will be worth the price if it helps average Germans understand why the changes - incorporated into around 15 draft laws - are necessary.

The reform package has been widely criticised for being too harsh on the public at a time of economic strife by the unions and even the left faction of the German leader's SPD itself.

While chairman Mao used maxims to get his message across, the Chancellor Schroeder uses a more direct style.

"This brochure will help inform you about what reforms are planned, how they will affect your lives and what they will bring to each citizen," he writes in the introduction.

The booklet is also aims to restore the popularity of the SPD, whose members are involved in a major party congress in the western city of Bochum until Wednesday, after its failure to kickstart the economy and create jobs.
Bureau Report