Germany's ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens pledged on Saturday to fight the next general election in 2006 together and made clear major new policy initiatives are off the agenda for now.
Speaking after a two-day cabinet conclave, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who is also Greens leader, said they were focused on implementing the government's economic reforms and winning a third term.
The meeting marked the end of a turbulent year-long battle by the government to push its unpopular "Agenda 2010" reforms through parliament that culminated on Friday with the adoption of measures to trim unemployment benefits from next year.
A poll to be published by Der Spiegel magazine on Sunday found only 39 percent of Germans want Schroeder to play an "important role" in the future, his worst showing in the quarterly survey.
More than two thirds of respondents said they were unhappy with his work while support for the Social Democrats slipped to a record low 23 percent.
But Schroeder, who seems to be over the setback of having to give up leadership of his Social Democrats earlier this year, gave no sign he was about to change course.
"We are going fighting into the second half of this legislature with the aim of winning a third," Schroeder said.
"We are half way and the situation is anything but easy ... but I am sure if we keep the same spirit it's a very realistic forecast that we will not only fight (the next election) together but also win it," echoed Fischer.
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