Greenhorns

Of politics and potted plants

The West German Bundestag had just confirmed Helmut Kohl as head of government, and the smiling Chancellor was surrounded by well-wishers. His allies rushed forward with hearty congratulations. Hans-Jochen Vogel, his Social Democratic opponent in the last elections, offered a friendly handshake. Then Newcomer Marieluise Beck-Oberdorf presented the Chancellor with a vibrant yellow forsythia branch.

It was one of the quieter gestures in a day of theatrics for West Germany's Greens, a loose amalgam of environmentalists and antinuclear activists who last week took their seats in the national legislature for the first time. While most deputies arrived by car, the Greens marched to the Bundestag through downtown Bonn. Some carried flowers; others dragged wilted trees, which they said were killed by acid rain. Inside, the new representatives again added a touch of color to the staid legislature. Their jeans and sweaters stood out against a sea of somber business suits, while their straight-backed benches sported an array of potted plants and flowers.

The Greens' splashy entrance stole the spotlight from Kohl, who had, after all, handily defeated Vogel and the Social Democrats last month. The Chancellor has also put his own stamp on the new coalition government, a Cabinet of eight Christian Democrats, five Christian Socialists and three Free Democrats. There were only two new faces: Christian Democrat Heinrich Windelen (Inter-German Affairs) and Christian Socialist Ignaz Kiechle (Agriculture). Most significantly, Free Democrat Leader Hans-Dietrich Genscher stayed on as Foreign Minister. A man who coveted that job--Franz-Josef Strauss, the right-wing leader of the Christian Democrats' sister party in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union--thus remained without a portfolio in the national government.

After boycotting Kohl's formal reinstatement by President Karl Carstens, the Greens soon made their presence felt in the Bundestag. The original seating plan called for them to be placed on the left-hand edge of the chamber, well out of range of television cameras. The Greens demurred, claiming they were not a left-wing party, and threatened to camp in the middle of the floor until their seats were changed. In the end, they got what they wanted: a central strip of 27 seats between the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats. Then came the new session's opening speech, given by former Chancellor Willy Brandt. A Bundestag tradition, such speeches are strictly ceremonial. Greens' Deputy Eckard Stratmann broke protocol, however, by demanding equal time, claiming that "the extraparliamentary movement has been given a new voice." He was roundly rejected.

The Greens did force debate on one major issue: a national census, scheduled to begin at the end of next month. The Greens and others have called for a boycott, though the motives vary. Some civil libertarians consider the survey an invasion of privacy. Others fear that personal information asked for on individual census forms might somehow become public. While sharing those concerns, the Greens have seized the census as a weapon in their fight against nuclear weapons. Says a party activist from Dusseldorf: "We know that the boycott alone will not bring about disarmament, but it will show the government that we too have strength in numbers."

At the very least, the Greens plan to keep the missile issue on the front pages. "We intend to stop the deployment of [U.S. missiles]," said Party Activist Petra Kelly. "Of course, to do so we need not only to be in parliament, we need to be on the street." Helmut Kohl will be hearing a lot from his new colleagues in both places. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.