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Court Clears Way for Elections on September 18
Germany’s highest court has cleared the way for national parliamentary elections to take place on September 18. The Federal Constitutional Court, in a decision announced on August 25 in Karlsruhe, rejected complaints filed by two parliamentarians challenging the early elections set when Federal President Horst Köhler agreed to dissolve parliament on July 21. Köhler welcomed the court’s decision: “With today’s ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court it is clear: parliamentary elections will take place in Germany on September 18, and the citizens will decide on the future course of our country.” He called on the political parties to comprehensively and honestly lay out their plans for solving the current problems, and he called on citizens to make use of their important right to vote.
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who called for the vote of confidence that led to the dissolution of parliament, also welcomed the decision. It absolutely confirms his view and that of Federal President Köhler, he said. The ruling is an important further development of the same court’s decision in 1983, Schröder said, when the court upheld early elections after then Chancellor Helmut Kohl lost a vote of confidence. Kohl went on to win re-election with a stronger mandate. New elections have been his aim from the start, Schröder said. “It is about validating my reform policy, a policy which is making Germany stronger without calling social cohesion into question,” he said. “Our country needs to revitalize itself at home and it needs to position itself self-confidently abroad, to position itself as a medium-sized power that advocates the peaceful resolution of conflicts in this world. For that, I need a new mandate and, at the helm of my party, I will vigorously fight for precisely that.” According to the ruling, the federal president’s decision to dissolve parliament is in line with the Basic Law, Germany’s constitution. The court also held that the vote of confidence called for by Chancellor Schröder and intended to prompt the dissolution of parliament was not unconstitutional. Seven out of 8 judges did not find sufficient facts contradicting Schröder’s contention that with the current balance of power in parliament he would not be able to effectively govern. According to the ruling, the chancellor’s ability to govern is already lost if the chancellor, in order to avoid an open loss of parliamentary support, is forced to back off on important points in his political program. Campaigning Already in Full Swing
Schröder’s main challenger in the September elections, Christian Democrat Angela Merkel, said she was pleased with the court’s ruling, saying the voters now have the opportunity to make the decision to continue with the current coalition or to venture a new beginning with a new government. Campaigning is already in full swing across Germany this summer. The political parties began gearing up as soon as Chancellor Schröder announced in May that he intended to seek early elections after his Social Democratic Party lost power in its key state, North Rhine-Westphalia. August 25, 2005 Links
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