German government seeks early general election

BERLIN - Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) will propose holding a general election in autumn 2005, a year earlier than planned, after their heavy defeat in a state election on Sunday, SPD chief Franz Muentefering said.

"The chancellor and I agreed that we will propose ... seeking Bundestag elections this autumn," Muentefering told German television.

"We want the voters to decide on the structural stalemate between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat," he continued. While the SPD controls the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, the conservative opposition dominates the upper house, the Bundesrat.

Federal elections are held every four years for Germany's lower house. Early elections are possible only in exceptional circumstances and the final decision rests with the German president, currently the conservative Horst Koehler.

Angela Merkel, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats, said she would welcome the chance to end the SPD-Greens coalition, but added it must show how it planned to bring about an election this year.

Muentefering added that Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would be seeking a third term in office.

Schroeder suffered a major blow on Sunday as projections showed voters had kicked his SPD out of government in Germany's most populous state after 39 years in power.

- REUTERS