SPD pushes to extend early retirement policy

Article reports that the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has proposed June 2008 to partially to reverse one of the German government’s key recent economic reforms by creating loopholes to the new retirement age of 67. The proposals by the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrat-led 'grand coalition' appeared aimed at bolstering the left-wing appeal of the crisis-ridden SPD as it gears up for national elections in 2009.