European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday March 27, 1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 3negotiating the reunification Maze uncertainty plagues German officials at every step by de re a vis staff writer a Arlin a winning the East German election was the easy part now be Alliance for Germany must find a Way to fulfil its Campaign promises for rapid reunification with the West. The Job wont be easy say officials from the East and West. A a a Quick docs not mean tomorrow but Means the process will not be dragged out forever Quot said Christian Kuhn a spokesman for the Christian democratic Union the leading party in the three group coalition that swept to Victory in the March 18 election. Klaus Wunderlich a spokesman for the West German foreign ministry said it is impossible to put a timetable on unification. A the problem is being rethought daily. West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl recently said 1992. So you see How shaky any kind of timing can be a Wunderlich said. Kuhn and Wunderlich said a tangle of economic constitutional and International issues must be addressed before map makers can erase the Border. Some of these issues can be solved by East Germany alone some can be worked out with West Germany a help and some have to be discussed with the four victors of world War ii. The most pressing questions facing East Germany involve its rotting Economy which had been run through the dictates of the governments bureaucracy. Immediate reforms must be introduced to open the Way for the West German Mark to become Legal Lender in East Germany Kuhn said. As a first step he said the country a new parliament must begin to discard the state subsidies in All sectors of life including rents and food. A a it a absurd that a Farmer can sell his fruit to the state for 1.50 Marks a Pound and they in turn resell it to the Public for 50 pfennig a Kuhn said. At the same time Kuhn said that such alien programs As unemployment assistance and private insurance must be started in East Germany before the West German Mark is introduced. Moving toward Unity German unification will involve a Long complicated process that addresses economic constitutional and International questions. Those questions include. Economic issues a i replacing East Germany a state controlled Economy with a free Market  introducing the West German Mark into East Germany. Constitutional issues m deter raining which part of West Germany s Constitution would apply to unification. Under article 23, East German states could join West Germany. Under article 146, the two. Countries would write a new Constitution. International issues. To determining whether a United Germany would belong to nato. A settling East Germany a economic obligations with the East bloc in addition he said Laws that allow private citizens to own property and foreign investors to Export profits were essential. A if we done to get these measures introduced and straightened out we wont Ever see the West German Mark introduced Over Here a Kuhn said. East Germany a new leaders also must think about the constitutional questions involved in unification with West Germany. West Germany a Constitution a provisional document that took effect in 1949, was written with unification in mind. Article 23 says the Constitution applies to parts of East Germany after they enter West Germany. Article 146 says the document can be replaced by a new Constitution approved by the German people. A a we be decided on going the route to unification via article 23 be cause it Means a relatively Quick process of unification a Kuhn said. The cd is working to put together a three quarters majority in the new Assembly that is necessary to take this constitutional route he said. Kuhn said the alternative path was too time consuming. A under article 146. We would have to form commissions in both states that would meet and negotiate a new Constitution a he said. A after they reach an agreement and present their draft to both parliaments the populations in both countries have to be asked. And then the Laws have to be harmonized. A but our people voted for Quick  once it convenes the new legislature also will work to restore the five states abolished by the communists Kuhn said. A that was one of the big mistakes they  he said. A we always thought of ourselves As being a native of one of the states. There never was an East German  the five East German slates arc Mecklenburg Saxony Thuringia. Sax ony Anhalt and Brandenburg. Once the states arc reformed they can individually or collectively join West Germany under article 23. West German officials said. While such issues rest in the hands of the new parliament others require the supervision of the four countries that brought about the unconditional surrender of nazi Germany in 1945. The framework for this supervision is called 2-plus-4. This group involves the two Ger Many working with the four victors of the War a France. Britain the soviet Union and the United states. The group will Iron out difficulties Between the Ger Many and keep the four Allied Powers informed of their Progress Wunderlich said. Kuhn called the allies the most important Clement of German unification. A the allies arc still responsible for All Germany. At least the Western Powers have always been for unification and the soviets have said they would not stand in the  Kuhn said. But one question May put the soviet Union Back in the Way a the membership of a United Germany in nato. Wunderlich said both Ger Many want to belong to nato but the Fate of the East German territory lies with the soviets. A at one Point they insisted that East Germany be Neutral. Then they seemed willing to accept another solution. But currently they seem to be Back at Square one. Quot no one can say at this Lime which Way they will  one other International question wont be so difficult. Kuhn said. Kohl has already guaranteed East bloc countries that a unified Germany will meet East Germany a economic obligations he . German spa Leader Steps Down to Clear charges Ibrahim Bohme Berlin apr the Leader of East Germany a social democratic party denying allegations he had been an informer for the communist secret police on monday said he was temporarily leaving his Post until the suspicions have been dispelled. Ibrahim Bohme told a news conference he also would not assume his seat in the new 400-seat parliament until the allegations had been investigated. Bohme whose parly finished a Distant second in East Germany a first free election on March 18, was the latest non communist politician to come under suspicion of having collaborated with the Stasi secret police. Lothar de Maiziere the Likely new Premier whose Christian democratic Union won the election is fighting similar allegations. De Maiziere has strongly denied reports that he was a longtime Stasi informer. The swirl of allegations is stalling efforts to form East Germany a first democratically elected government and has overshadowed the country a first week As a democracy. A i declare that i never worked for in or with the ministry for state Security and i never knowingly gave any information to the ministry a Bohme told reporters. He also denied Ever receiving any Money from the ministry known As Stasi. He said he was temporarily leaving the chairmanship of the party to his Deputy Markus Meckel. Bohme said he hoped an Independent commission would examine Stasi files and dismiss the allegations quickly. The West German newsmagazine Der Spiegel in its latest Issue published allegations by two unidentified former Stasi agents that Bohme had been a regular Collaborator with the hated Agency. Meckel said Anonymous allegations by former Stasi agents were designed to destabilize the country disturb the population and discredit the newly elected parliament. The ousted communist parly regime used the 85,000-Mcmber Stasi Force to ruthlessly suppress dissent and keep a tight control on All walks of life. The Force also had More than 100.000 informers and kept files on 6 million citizens in a population of just Over 16 million. After a peaceful popular revolt in october toppled the stalinist regime pro democracy groups and the interim government led by Reform minded communists began dismantling the Stasi. The Stasi past has been hounding the Young East German democracy. Four Days before the election Wolfgang Schnur chaiman of the democratic Awakening conservative party was forced to step Down after admitting that he had been a Stasi informer. After the elections officials supervising the dismantling of the secret police said they had indications that Many of the newly elected lawmakers might have been Stasi informers. The social democrats had been pushing for an immediate probe of All 400 lawmakers to determine if any of them had had Stasi links. But the Christian democratic Union and the country a chief prosecutor said such a move could be approved Only after the new parliament is sworn in. Bohme said talks scheduled for sunday Between leading parties to form a coalition government should be suspended until the allegations had been investigated and cleared up