German Constitutional Court green-lights early elections call

Thursday, August 25, 2005

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German federal elections 2005

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Background

The German federal Constitutional Court, the Bundesverfassungsgericht, has dismissed the complaints by two Members of the Bundestag against the dissolving of the parliament and removed the last obstacle on the road to early elections on September 18th.

Jelena Hoffmann from chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Socialdemocrats and Werner Schulz from the Greens, which are also members of the government, claimed that the loss of confidence by Schröder on July 1st was orchestrated and that President Horst Köhler had therefore no right to dissolve the Bundestag on July 21st.

The majority of the court, voting 7:1, disagreed with that assessment. It ruled, that Schröder's declaration, saying he does not have a reliable majority in parliament for his reform programme, is "plausible" and added that the Constitution grants the chancellor wide freedom in that matter.

Representatives of all major parties have welcomed the decision.

Sources

"Verfassungsgericht macht Weg für Neuwahlen frei" — Der Spiegel, August 25, 2005

"Judges back early German election" — BBC News, August 25, 2005

"Karlsruhe gibt grünes Licht für Neuwahl" — ARD, August 25, 2005

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