Berlin  - A prominent centrist member of Germany's Social Democrats (SPD), whose outspoken comments have divided the party, sought Thursday to placate his critics while standing his ground on key issues.

Speaking to journalists in Bonn, Wolfgang Clement, 68, who served as Economics and Labour minister under former SPD chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, said he intended to remain in the party, despite an attempt to expel him.

"I am a Social Democrat, and I will remain a Social Democrat," Clement, who joined the party in 1970, said.

However, he apologized for the emotions he had generated by questioning the energy policies of the SPD leader in the state of Hesse, Andrea Ypsilanti, just days before a closely fought state election on January 27.

Clement, who left politics at the end of 2005 for a career in business, taking a senior post with power generation company RWE, said he had not sought to undermine the Hesse SPD.

The party narrowly failed to wrest power from the ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) in the state.

But he insisted that Germany could not renounce the secure energy sources of nuclear and coal-fired power stations, as called for by Ypsilanti.

German commentators characterized Clement's performance as a "damage limitation exercise" following a vote by the SPD's North Rhine-Westphalia branch last week to expel him for "breaching party solidarity."

Clement has appealed against the vote, taking his case to the party at federal level. (dpa)