German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lost a parliamentary confidence vote he engineered yesterday, raising the prospect of early elections and a widely predicted change in government.
The Bundestag lower house defeated the measure with the help of deputies from Schroeder's coalition of Social Democrats and Greens who followed the chancellor's call to abstain in his bid to bring the general election forward by 12 months. In a speech before the confidence vote, the embattled leader said his painful economic reform drive had cost him crucial support that he now hoped to regain.
"Without a new mandate, it is impossible to continue with my policies," Schroeder told the chamber.
"If we want to continue with the reforms, and we must, we need to seek a new mandate through elections," he said.
The 61-year-old Schroeder, who wore a dark suit and struck a somber tone, said the "painful" loss of a May election in Germany's most populous state had made it clear that his governing center-left coalition was at risk.
President Horst Koehler now has 21 days to decide whether to dissolve parliament and order new elections, which will probably take place on Sept. 18.
Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD), beleaguered by the anemic economy and around 12 percent unemployment, is trailing the conservative opposition Christian Union bloc (CDU/CSU) by about 20 percentage points in most polls. A conservative victory would see opposition leader Angela Merkel become Germany's first woman chancellor.
In a speech that often sounded like a farewell, Schroeder said that the unpopular economic and labor market reforms his government introduced since it took power in 1998 had been bold and essential steps that his predecessor Helmut Kohl had failed to undertake.
"The reform process is unique in the history of the federal republic in its scope and consequences," Schroeder said.
"We tackled what our predecessors neglected. We started what the CDU and the FDP never had the courage to do in 16 years in government," he said, referring to the conservatives' liberal coalition partners, the Free Democrats.
He said that his SPD had paid the political price for those reforms, known as Agenda 2010, but was ready to battle to win back Germany's voters.
"Agenda 2010 led to fights between the parties and within the parties and -- I do not want to hide it -- my party suffered in particular," he said.
Germans are angry that Schroeder has failed to keep his seven-year-old promise to drive down unemployment and that they now in fact have more reason to fear for their jobs than at any other time since World War II.
But many left-wing SPD deputies have questioned Schroeder's course, saying that measures such as cuts to unemployment benefits put an unfair burden on the poor.
Merkel, who delivered a rebuttal after Schroeder's speech, said that the government had presented an incoherent and chaotic response to the major problems facing the country. She said the Christian Union parties were ready to confront those challenges.
"The next election will be an election about the direction the country is taking. It is not enough to say we'll carry on as before," she said to applause.
Although the new elections are likely to take place in September, 12 months ahead of schedule, the decision is far from certain. Koehler must determine whether the move complies with Germany's Basic Law. And some of the smaller political parties and a handful of coalition deputies have vowed to mount a federal court challenge against bringing the poll forward.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number