New Parliament Meets; President Köhler Thanks Schröder for Service

Berlin: Federal President Köhler thanked Chancellor Schröder and his cabinet members. BPA photo

One month after the elections, the representatives in the 16th German Bundestag met for their first session on October 18. The new Bundestag consists of 614 parliamentarians. Their first order of business: electing Norbert Lammert (CDU) as Bundestag President.

In accordance with Germany’s Basic Law, the term of the chancellor ends with the constitutional session of the new Bundestag. Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and the federal ministers will remain in office as acting chancellor and ministers until a new government is sworn into office.

In a brief ceremony hours after the Bundestag session, Federal President Horst Köhler praised Chancellor Schröder and his cabinet members and thanked them for their service before handing them official dismissal documents. “You and your coalition have led the Federal Republic of Germany into a new century,” Köhler said to Schröder. “The seven years you were in office were a time of great change worldwide.”

Köhler also spoke of the comprehensive reform course which Schröder began in the face of much resistance. In order to guarantee a modern, strong social welfare state, Germans need the strength and courage to change, Köhler said. “It will be the new government’s job to set this course and to continue the initiated reforms with consistency, coherence and calculability,” Köhler said.

New Bundestag Meets
Otto Schily, serving as chairman by seniority, opened the constitutional session and called on the parliamentarians to address the real concerns of the people and to find clear answers. He also called for more optimism. “We should finally stop speaking poorly about our own country, against better judgment, only for the sake of winning turf battles,” Schily said. Instead, it is the representatives’ job to impart to the people more optimism and self-confidence. He also called on the representatives to act fairly and with respect.

In electing Norbert Lammert as Bundestag President to succeed Wolfgang Thierse (SPD), the parliamentarians approved him with a 92.9 % majority, the largest majority for a Bundestag president since 1953. The new Bundestag leadership will also include six vice presidents.

October 18, 2005

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