The two Germanys on Wednesday settled a fight on how to elect a united Parliament but continued squabbling over whether East Germany has enough money to pull its moribund economy into the capitalist arena. West German government spokesman Hans Klein said the opposition Social Democrats agreed to an election plan allowing small East German parties to run on tickets with larger parties with which they are allied. For example, the German Social Union, which is allied with the larger Christian Democrats, could run on the same ticket. This could improve the small parties' chances of winning representation in Parliament, because each ticket will have to win at least 5 percent of the total vote to be represented in the united Parliament. East German Prime Minister Lothar de Maiziere told reporters late Wednesday that his coalition parties had also approved the plan. The issue at one point threatened to derail the timetable of German unification as parties jockeyed for the most favorable conditions to improve their chances in the all-German election Dec. 2. De Maiziere said he expected the election law to be signed Friday. Meanwhile, East German Finance Minister Walter Romberg said Wednesday his country needs a supplementary budget of $6.25 billion to $7.5 billion plus increased unemployment insurance. More than 250,000 East Germans are unemployed and experts say that number could climb as high as 3 million as companies and factories succumb in the transition to a free market. West Germany has budgeted nearly $15.6 billion this year to cover East Germany's deficit. Manfred Carstens, a top West German Finance Ministry official, criticized East Germany's request for more money as ``unserious and politically dishonest.'' On Tuesday, East German Labor Minister Regine Hildebrandt said ``the country is burning'' and called for billions more in West German marks to help prop up the economy. De Maiziere went to Austria on Tuesday to meet with Chancellor Helmut Kohl at his vacation retreat and discuss the economic crisis. The mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported Thursday that Kohl pressed de Maiziere to find more savings in his budget.
