German parties hold closing election rallies

Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and challenger Angela Merkel were to address their parties’ official closing election rallies today, making a late appeal to an electorate divided over who can invigorate Germany’s sluggish economy.

Schroeder, whose Social Democrats trail Merkel’s conservatives in opinion polls ahead of Sunday’s vote, was to speak at a gathering in Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt square on this evening.