A New Team Takes Over

Ever since the Weimar Republic, with its short-lived Cabinets and chronic crises, collapsed in the face of Nazism, Germans have worried about their ability to build a stable, democratic political system. The latest political crisis to confront the Federal Republic should do much to allay those fears. Less than two weeks after Willy Brandt stunned his countrymen by suddenly resigning as Chancellor, a new government was functioning smoothly in Bonn. Last Thursday, in the modern and austere Bundestag chambers, Social Democrat Helmut Schmidt, 55, took the oath as West Germany's fifth Chancellor.

Schmidt, the former Finance Minister, apportioned the seats in his coalition Cabinet in almost the same ratio as they were in Brandt's: eleven Social Democrats and four Free Democrats. About half of the incumbent Ministers retained their portfolios. The most significant change was the departure of Free Democrat Chief Walter Scheel as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister. Last week he was elected to a five-year term as West Germany's President, a ceremonial office with little real power.

Scheel's successor as Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister is another Free Democrat: portly, bumptious Hans-Dietrich Genscher, 47, possibly the least likely top diplomat in West German history. Genscher has virtually no experience in foreign affairs and speaks only German. As Minister of the Interior since 1969, he encouraged modernization of German police departments and established a strong law-and-order image by capturing the Baader-Meinhof gang of bomb-throwing anarchists. Genscher lowered the voting age from 21 to 18, and began a tough program to protect the environment. In an April poll, he ranked just behind Scheel and Brandt as Germany's third most popular politician.

The Schmidt-Genscher team will differ considerably from Brandt and Scheel in style and policy emphasis.

Missing, at least initially, will be the personal warmth and deep mutual respect that characterized the relationship of the former Chancellor and his Foreign Minister. Socialist Schmidt has never had much love for Genscher, a free-enterprise conservative, and may be tempted to take advantage of Genscher's link with the Gunter Guillaume spy scandal that triggered Brandt's resignation. In May 1973 Genscher, who as Interior Minister was responsible for internal security, told Brandt that Guillaume, one of the Chancellor's personal aides, might be spying for the East Germans. As the only Cabinet-level official associated with the scandal who is still in power,* Genscher might be blamed for not doing enough to prevent Guillaume from gaining access to top-secret documents.

Coalition Considered. Schmidt, however, is unlikely to pressure Genscher too much. The Free Democrats hold the balance of power in the Bundestag, providing 41 of the coalition's 271 votes; the opposition Christian Democrats and Christian Social Union have 225 seats.

In addition Genscher, who is in line to succeed Scheel as Free Democratic chairman this fall, has hinted that he is not above considering a coalition with the Christian Democrats.

In foreign policy, Schmidt and Genscher will undoubtedly continue Brandt's Ostpolitik, but with less fervor.

As a refugee from Halle, East Germany (in 1952), Genscher is less trusting of the East European regimes than were Brandt and Scheel. Schmidt has long opposed granting easy credits to those regimes. In his maiden policy address to the Bundestag he pledged "partnership with the U.S. The security of Western Europe remains, for the foreseeable future, dependent on the presence of the U.S. in Europe."

The new team will be tough on the Common Market. "We cannot sacrifice the stability of our economy for the sake of a European Community that is unable to act," Schmidt has stated. "We cannot place our cash reserves at the disposal of others. Nor can we make our economic policy dependent on the miserable plight of Britain or Italy." The new Chancellor can be expected to use his country's monetary strength to force the rest of the EEC to synchronize economic policies, e.g., the fight against inflation. Schmidt's brass-knuckles approach to foreign affairs will enable his new government to concentrate on domestic issues: prices rising at 7% annually, worker representation in corporate management and tax reform.

The new team must also pick up the pieces of the Guillaume affair. The Cabinet is expected to appoint an independent commission to discover how Guillaume rose so high in government service and to seek means for improving security. Meanwhile new stories connected Brandt's private life with Guillaume. The magazines Der Spiegel and Stern, for example, reported that the security police had information that Guillaume had procured women for Brandt during trips. Brandt had previously denied the accusations of misconduct, stating: "I have nothing to blame myself for that would irritate my wife." Later, in a letter to all Social Democratic Party members, he was more ambiguous, explaining: "I am no saint, and I have never pretended to be free from human weakness." Brandt, who remains as his party's chairman, apparently feels that the spy scandal has not impaired his ability to help the Social Democrats. Next week, after returning from a brief vacation in Norway with his wife Rut, he will go to Hannover to try to boost their fading chances in the important June 9 Lower Saxony elections.

*Minister for Posts Horst Ehmke, who as chief of the Chancellery had approved the hiring of Guillaume, requested not to be included in the new Cabinet.

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