GERMANY: The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schröder, is seeking a rule change for the second of two television election debates after his conservative challenger knocked him off balance on Sunday night.
Mr Edmund Stoiber cast off his reputation as a wooden performer to deliver an assured turn during the debate, tackling Mr Schröder on the economy, flood relief and foreign policy.
"I would have wished more chance to be able to reply," Mr Schröder said yesterday. "But I have no intention of checking into a training camp." Instead for the next debate he wants more flexibility in the rules that prevent the two men from replying directly to each other.
Mr Schröder is the more seasoned media performer but seemed ill at ease under the barrage of pre-prepared criticism.
"The rules made the debate as sterile as an operating theatre," complained one leading Social Democrat (SPD) politician yesterday.
But the Christian Democrats (CDU) are anxious to stick to the format which they see as favouring the fact-orientated approach of Mr Stoiber.
"With this format, the arguments are what counts and not acting," said Mr Laurenz Meyer, general secretary of the CDU.
The majority of viewers questioned in telephone polls after the debate felt Mr Schröder turned in the better performance, but even leading Social Democrats had to admit that Mr Stoiber was the surprise of the evening.
"Mr Stoiber wasn't bad, for him, but Mr Schröder was good as always," said Mr Klaus Wowereit, the mayor of Berlin.
Mr Stoiber's media advisers said they wanted a tightening rather than a loosening of the rules. "We will not agree to a break in our agreement," said Mr Michael Spreng, his election manager.
He pointed out that Mr Schröder broke the rules several times during the first debate, replying directly to Mr Stoiber without first waiting for a question from the moderators.
Mr Schröder was at his most defensive when Mr Stoiber described the 9 per cent unemployment as "another natural catastrophe" alongside the floods.
The two men will cross swords again in the Bundestag on Thursday when they debate their differing ideas for paying for the flood damage.
With the two parties neck-and-neck in the opinion polls, Mr Schröder hopes to drag out the debate and implementation of flood relief to give him an extra boost in the last weeks.
