Saarbruecken, Germany Pointing to the impact Schroeder's policies on the election, Mueller noted: "We are in a situation where many people are worried." Reforms are needed in Germany but they must be better planned and better explained, he added. The German economy is emerging from three years of stagnation and unemployment remains stuck at over 10 per cent nationwide and close to 20 per cent in hard hit east. Angry SPD leaders said a further reason for their debacle in the Saar election was former SPD chairman and leftist firebrand Oskar Lafontaine who briefly served under Schroeder as finance minister before resigning in anger over government policy. Lafontaine, who ruled the Saar as its premier for over a decade, has since become a bitter critic of Schroeder and his support for the possible creation of a new left-leaning party damaged the SPD in the Saar election, said Maas. "Lafontaine must decide if he wants to work with us in the SPD or outside the party," demanded Maas in TV interviews following his defeat. Schroeder's only comfort is that the Saar is a tiny state with just 818,000 voters and a troubled legacy of coal and steel tucked along the borders of France and Luxembourg. --More 2327 Local Time 2027 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/198432