Gerhard Schröder got what he wanted:
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder moved a step closer to his goal of holding an early election in Germany this fall, deliberately losing a confidence vote in the German Parliament today.
Mr. Schröder, whose political fortunes have run aground on Germany’s chronic economic problems, watched somberly from the sidelines of the chamber as lawmakers from the opposition and his own party heeded his plea to vote against the coalition that has governed Germany since 1998.
The defeat – by a vote of 296 to 151, with 148 abstentions – allows Mr. Schröder to petition the German president to dissolve Parliament, and sets the stage for national elections in September, a year early.
"Without a new mandate, it is impossible to continue with my policies," he said in a speech before the vote. "If we want to continue with the reforms, and we must, we need to seek a new mandate through elections."
It remains to be seen whether the superior court upholds the legality of dissolving the parliament, but the election campaign cycle has commenced a fever pitch: lautgeben.de has a summary of the key speeches that were held in the Bundestag. The most rousing speech was by Joschka Fischer, who turned his fury on the CDU/FDP with some great lines: “Kommen Sie herunter von ihrem hohen Ross – es ist ein schändlicher Esel.” (get off of your high horse – it’s nothing but a shameful ass!) Fischer turned to Angela Merkel with a blistering attack for her support of the US invasion of Irak:"Für uns geht Bündnissolidarität nicht vor Vernunft. Sie waren da anderer Meinung." (For us, reason is more important than loyalty to the alliance. You were of a different opinion.)
Schröder may be a lame duck, but according to the Handelsblatt he has gained in popularity amongst Germans at the expense of his CDU rival:
Gäbe es eine Direktwahl des Bundeskanzlers, so erhielte Schröder derzeit 40 Prozent, Merkel 36 Prozent. Der Wert für die CDU- Vorsitzende fiel innerhalb von vier Wochen um 10 Prozentpunkte. Allerdings hatte Merkel noch Anfang Mai – wie nun wieder – bei 36 Prozent gelegen.
SInce the international media has already made Angela Merkel the de facto winner of the election, are the voters experiencing buyers remorse before the election even takes place?
