Franz Muentefering, parliamentary floor leader of the Social Democratic
Party (SPD) in Germany's lower house of parliament, Bundestag, waves
with his red scarf before the opening of the SPD party convention in
the western German city of Bochum November 17, 2003. German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder, whose centre-left government is trying to push tax
cuts and economic reforms through a parliamentary mediation committee
by year-end, said he was certain the 500 SPD delegates would continue
to back his efforts to revitalise the economy. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

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