Schroeder calls for early polls

Schroeder announced his high-risk strategy on Sunday after his Social Democrats (SPD) were booted out of office in the most populous German state, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a longtime left-wing bastion the party had ruled for 39 years.

A general election in Germany will take place on September 18 this year at the latest because Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will present a motion of confidence in his government to parliament by July 1, officials said yesterday.

The party chief of Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (SPD), Franz Muenterfering, said that July 1 was the last sitting of the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, before the summer recess.

If the motion of confidence is rejected, German President Horst Koehler then has 21 days in which to dissolve parliament.

The general election must take place within 60 days of the dissolution of parliament.

Bringing forward the election by one year to this autumn carries huge risks for Schroeder, who has seen his ratings plunge as unemployment has surged to post-war highs and his economic reforms have failed to boost Europe's largest economy.

"It will be extremely difficult for him to come back, but it would have been more difficult a year down the road. That was his calculation," said Gary Smith, director of the American Academy, a Berlin think-tank.

Schroeder has now seized the initiative from the conservatives, but opinion polls show just how difficult is the challenge facing him in the next few months.

In a survey by ARD television on Sunday, 46 percent of respondents said they would vote for the rival conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), compared to 29 percent for the SPD.

Schroeder must convince Germans the conservatives, who have largely supported his efforts to reform Germany's welfare system and labour market, will push for even more painful measures.

Two years ago, Schroeder unveiled a reform package known as "Agenda 2010" that included cuts in jobless benefits and sparked protests across the country.