Schroeder looses vote of confidence

[nosarcasm]

The by himself initiated vote of confidence lead to the expected and
desired vote of no confidence.

151 voted yes they had confidence in the chancellor
296 votes no
148 did not cast a vote
1 mandate is currently not filled.


The chancellor in his defense of the vote of confidence procedure to
be able to call early election read passages of Helmut Kohls speech who
initiated the first historical early election in 1982 by the vote of
confidence exploit. At that time the German constitutional court gave
it an ok, but said it was a one time exeception

Several members of parliament have announced they will bring this
matter infront of the court again.

Schroeder in his speech said that the retromovement in his party
to socialism (a new left wing alliance will run at the elections) has
forced him to go through this unusual step.

But questions remain if this reason is valid. The SPD/Green alliance still
has demonstrated they have a majority of votes. It is still
unclear what Schroeder hopes to gain with the early elections.
The main opposition is looking forward to taking over the country and
is quite happy about this unexpected gift.

 

[onedomino]

This whole process is strange. The "no confidence" SPD failure was engineered by Schroeder. And now the electorate seems likely to vote him out of office in September. So why did Schroeder engineer the "no confidence" vote? It does not make any sense. In that regard, it is confluent with many of Schroeder's policies. Regardless, there will be a good chance for an improvement in German-American relations when Schroeder is gone.

 

[Zhukov]

So why did Schroeder engineer the "no confidence" vote?

Because he expects things to get even worse for him if he waits.

He wants to get re-elected before a majority turns firmly against him, to slide in for another term, a few more years in power, a few more years of economic stagnation for the German people.

Besides he can say he didn't really lose because the Aye's plus the Abstentions is greater than the Nays...and believe me, he'll make sure everyone in Germany is informed of that fact every chance he gets.

Still, here's hoping he loses.

Here's hoping Chirac is next.

 

[onedomino]

He wants to get re-elected before a majority turns firmly against him.

The electorate has already firmly turned against Schroeder. In May, the SPD was blasted in Germany's industrial heartland, North Rhine-Westphalia. The SPD received 37.5% of the vote and the CDU received 45%. Calling for an early election (in September), as made possible by the "no confidence" vote, seems like Schroeder political suicide. OK...fine. Good riddens to the Schroeder government, the worst thing ever to happen to post WW2 German-American relations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4570105.stm

 

[Zhukov]

Ok, a larger majority (a 4% swing from one to the other and it's neck-in-neck) that is more firmly against him.

If time is against him hold an election sooner rather than later, right?

Yes he will probably lose, but he doesn't really have any other option at this point.

Also it's a Parliamentary system, and he could therefore form coalitions between other parties, including the CD's, and retain his position.