Duitse verkiezingen op 18 september 2005 (en)

Germans are to go to the polls on 18 September for early elections following a decision by president Horst Kohler on Thursday evening (21 July) to dissolve the parliament.

"I am of the opinion that the good of our people is best served with new elections", he said in a televised address.

"Our country faces huge challenges. Our future and that of our children is at stake. The federal budget is at a critical level", said Mr Kohler. "In this serious situation our country needs a government that can pursue its goals with steadiness and vigour".

He said that he reached his decision that the current government was threatened by instability as several backbenchers were unhappy with the economic reforms proposed by chancellor Gerhard Schroder.

However, Mr Schroder's plans could still be put into disarray by the country's constitutional court, due to rule early September on a complaint brought by two Green MPs that the whole manoeuvre by the chancellor goes against German law.

Mr Schroder called the early elections in May after his party was crushed in a regional election in North Rhine Westphalia, normally a social democrat stronghold.

The chancellor then engineered a vote of no confidence on 1 July. Over the past three weeks, the time constitutionally allowed, Mr Kohler has been deliberating with lawyers and politicians about whether he would give the go ahead to the dissolution of parliament.

According to a recent poll, quoted by Deutsche Welle, 73 percent of the population believes the elections are necessary while 83 percent of Germans believe the new elections will bring a change of government.

But 76 percent also believe that a new conservative government would not do a better job than the current coalition of Social Democrats and the Green party.

The latest polls have also put the opposition Christian Democrats firmly in the lead. Their chancellor candidate is Angela Merkel, who earlier this week had a high-profile meeting with French government ministers in Paris.