|
Winds of Change in Germany: Schröder's defeat in Westphalia can bring a pro-American party to power.
With Sunday’s elections, Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrat party (SDP) has lost control of North Rhine-Westphalia, the largest of Germany's 16 states.
 Schröder's defeat in Westphalia can set in motion new winds of change in Germany. The next federal elections could see both Gerhard Schroeder and his SPD (Social Democratic party) on the way out. Helena Schuettler_____________________
The SPD has conceded defeat to the pro-American and pro-Bush, centre-right Christian Democrats who also oppose increased immigration of Turks into Germany. Victory for the CDU has given Dortmund, a former coal-and-steel hub gone rusty, its first conservative mayor since 1946, the year the state was created by the British.
Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called on Sunday for new federal elections in the autumn, one year ahead of schedule, after his Social Democrats suffered a crushing defeat in this regional poll. This defeat could be a precursor to the SDP's defeat in the coming federal elections that could bring to power the stridently pro-Bush conservative Christian Democrats.
The early election move is a high-stakes gamble, which analysts said might be aimed at catching Schroeder's conservative rivals off-guard and silencing the extreme left-wing dissenters within his own party.
But it carries enormous risks for Schroeder, who has seen his personal ratings plunge as German unemployment has surged to post-war highs.
"With the bitter election result for my party in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) the political support for our reforms to continue has been called into question," a shaken Schroeder told German television.
"I see it as my responsibility and duty as German Chancellor to persuade the President (Horst Koehler) … to call new elections for the Bundestag as quickly as possible, realistically by autumn 2005."
Two years ago, Schroeder unveiled a package of labor market reforms known as "Agenda 2010," which sparked protests across the country. They include cuts in jobless benefits and stricter rules on means-testing for the long-term unemployed.
Federal elections are held every four years for Germany's lower house, the Bundestag, with the next one due at the end of 2006. Early elections are possible only in exceptional circumstances and the final decision rests with the German President, currently conservative Horst Koehler.
Schroeder could seek a vote of confidence in the Bundestag as early as next month. Should he lose that vote — Schroeder’s government can seek to lose it deliberately to force early elections — Koehler would have 21 days to decide whether to dissolve parliament.
There are precedents for early elections. The Bundestag was dissolved early at the behest of Christian Democrat Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who wanted new elections in March 1983 to expand his parliamentary majority.
Schroeder's shock announcement followed news that voters in NRW had kicked the SPD out of the state government after 39 years in power. Will the rest of Germany follow the lead set by Westphalia?
Story Credits: Money Central and ABC News
__________________________________________________
Discuss this article
|
