Germany's Schroeder mulls what to do next
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-18 10:21

"You should all keep that in mind if anyone should need legal advice. I've been giving away advice for free. But from now on I will only be giving it for the standard legal fee."

Schroeder has rented an apartment in Berlin's government quarter near the Brandenburg Gate that overlooks the Holocaust memorial and has searched for office space for his law practice. As a former chancellor, he will also be entitled to an office in parliament and staff in Berlin even after he leaves parliament.

"I don't think he's in any great hurry and will take his time to see what happens," said Manfred Guellner, Forsa polling institute head and long-time adviser to Schroeder. "I could even imagine him in a top European Union position someday."

JOKES HELPED NEW COALITION

Schroeder's high spirits brightened the sometimes turgid coalition talks between the SPD and Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) after the September election. Some SPD leaders said his humour helped melt the ice.

"I hereby declare that I'm not going to read this coalition agreement -- just like I didn't read the last one," Schroeder said after the two sides agreed a deal, poking fun at his own deviations from a 2003 agreement with the Greens.

At another session, the two parties were discussing reform of Germany's prostitution law, according to Chancellery Minister and Schroeder friend Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

"I've got a question here," Schroeder interrupted and then pointed out the term 'accompanying research' in the draft. "Who is going to perform this 'accompanying research'?" Health Minister Ulla Schmidt offered to get him the address.

Doris Schroeder-Koepf, wife of Germany's outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, reacts to the speech of the Social Democratic Party's newly elected chairman Matthias Platzeck during the second day of Germany's SPD party convention in the southern German town of Karlsruhe, November 15, 2005.[Reuters]

Schroeder has spent the last seven years cracking jokes on Germany's losing record in world wars, his three failed marriages and four wives. While many leaders like to raise a laugh, he has taken the art of one-liners to a new level.

He recently teased Americans about his fondness for Cuban cigars, reminding them that they could not get the cigars legally because of a U.S. embargo on Cuba.

His comments recalled an earlier joke that almost became a diplomatic incident: Schroeder gave a box of Cuban cigars to then President Bill Clinton after a laugh-filled dinner in Berlin. Clinton stopped laughing.

Steinmeier, who has been Schroeder's top adviser for years and will be Germany's next foreign minister, has evidently been taking lessons in gags from his former boss. He said he arranged an exemption from Schroeder's consultant fees.

"I've worked out special conditions with him," he said. "I just have to give him a call and I'll get advice for free."