Schroeder, Greens Sign New Coalition Pact

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, October 17, 2002

Schroeder, Greens Sign New Coalition Pact

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German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said his Social Democratic Party (SPD) signed a new coalition accord Wednesday with the Greens following a last-minute refusal by a minister candidate to join the center-left government.

"We've done it - it was not always easy. We have a new coalition accord," said Schroeder, quoted by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA).

Schroeder's SPD and the Greens, which were narrowly re-elected last month for a second four-year term, inked the 88-page pact titled "Renewal, Justice and Sustainability" in a ceremony held atBerlin's New National Gallery.

In an unexpected development, Wolfgang Tiefensee, the popular SPD mayor of Leipzig, refused to join the new cabinet at the last minute as a candidate for the portfolio of construction, transport and eastern German development minister.

The move led Schroeder to name the retired prime minister of Brandenburg state, Manfred Stolpe, to the key post.

The coalition agreement also included tax increases, spending cuts for unemployment benefits and more money for state-run child daycare services, the DPA reported.

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