Chancellor Schroeder Schedules German Confidence Vote for July 1

The elections in the German lander of North Rhine-Westphalia resulted in the end of 39 years of rule by the Social Democrats of Gerhard Schroeder. The opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union won 44.8% of the vote, against the SPD’s 37.1%, a heavy rejection. So, Mr. Schroeder has announced a vote of confidence in his government for July 1. It is hard to see anything coming out of this other than a CDU government.

The victory of the CDU gives the party almost 2/3 of the votes in the upper house, the Bundesrat, where the lander (equivalent to US states) are represented. While the party can’t stop all legislation from the lower Bundestag, it is close. Moreover, by losing in the industrial heartland of the SPD’s base, Mr. Schroeder needs a mandate in order to have the moral standing to continue to govern.

By setting the vote of confidence for July 1, he has set the stage for an election this autumn, a year earlier than planned. He is hoping that the CDU will name as its candidate for chancellor the current leader of the party, Angela Merkel, who has something of a charisma deficiency. But that seems a thin reed.

The truth is that the SPD has engineered a flat economy with 12% unemployment. The jobless total breached the psychologically important 5 million mark earlier this year (and 1 million in North Rhine-Westphalia), and things could be a whole lot better for the average German. The country isn’t booming, and the reforms introduced two years ago – “Agenda 2010” as it was dubbed -- slashed jobless benefits without creating jobs.

What will prove most important is the tone the German election takes with regard to Europe. Herr Schroeder has slammed Brussels before when it suited his purposes. If the French and/or the Dutch vote “No” in their upcoming referenda on the EU constitution, backing the European agreement might be a losing issue for any German political party. Which would bring Project Europe to a standstill – just like German employment.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
Produced using Fedora Linux.

Home