German President Horst Koehler dissolved parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a Sept. 18 election that polls show will usher in a new reform-minded government and the country's first woman chancellor. His decision removes the key hurdle to Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's early election plan, which he sprung on a stunned nation on May 22 after a humiliating loss for his Social Democrats (SPD) in a regional vote. The election could still be thwarted if Germany's top court finds that Schroeder's unconventional plan, which involved the deliberate loss of a parliamentary vote of confidence earlier this month, is unconstitutional. But few legal experts believe the court will go against Koehler, a former head of the International Monetary Fund, who as president had primary responsibility for determining whether Schroeder's plan conformed with German law. "Today I dissolved the 15th German federal parliament and called new elections for Sept. 18," Koehler told a national television audience that had waited three weeks for his decision. "I am convinced the constitutional conditions for dissolving parliament exist." Schroeder has said he is seeking elections a year ahead of schedule in order to win a new mandate for his unpopular reforms, which have failed to bolster Germany's sluggish economy or reduce unemployment from post-war highs. "I will fight with all my power and energy in the next weeks so that the voters give me a mandate to carry on the politics of reform," Schroeder said after the decision. But polls suggest the opposition conservatives led by Angela Merkel will win the election and push through more far-reaching measures than Schroeder is advocating. A snap poll by television station ARD conducted just before Koehler's announcement showed 74 percent of Germans believe Merkel will win, against 19 percent for Schroeder. After seven years of SPD rule, voters appear keen to give Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) a chance to revitalise the economy even if it means more pain in the short term. Merkel, a former physicist who grew up in communist East Germany, would become Germany's first woman chancellor if elected. She has vowed to cut non-wage labour costs and make it easier for companies to hire and fire.
