November 16, 2001	Friday	Shaba'an 29, 1422

BERLIN, Nov 15: Germany braced itself on Thursday for a possible government collapse and early election as the outcome of Friday’s confidence vote on the mobilisation of troops for Afghanistan appeared too close to call.

Leaders of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s coalition parties, the Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens, were heaping pressure on pacifist rebel deputies to back the vote on the mobilisation of up to 3,900 soldiers for the US-led Afghan campaign.

Even if Schroeder loses and a new election is called, he is likely to emerge the winner because he is riding high in opinion polls with 70 percent approval ratings. He also faces a divided conservative opposition that doesn’t even have a candidate.

Victory on Friday, however, may not end turbulence in the coalition. Many Greens grassroots members remain bitterly opposed to military action and could force their leaders to quit the government at a party congress on November 24.

Both SPD and Greens parties were due to meet separately for talks on Thursday at 1900 GMT for their leaders to try to push waverers back into line.

The crisis has been sparked by Germany’s constitutional obligation to approve troop deployments in parliament, a legacy of its militaristic past.

PLEDGE AT RISK: It threatens to undermine Schroeder’s pledge that Germany is ready to take on a bigger role in world affairs after decades on the sidelines following World War Two.

Five deputies — one from the SPD and four from the Greens — have said they will vote against Schroeder because they cannot reconcile the deployment of troops with their consciences, even if it means bringing down the government.

Other Greens deputies were undecided, bringing the potential rebel count dangerously close to wiping out his majority.

Schroeder’s coalition has 334 of the 666 seats in the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament. If eight or more rebels oppose Schroeder, he loses the vote and is widely expected to call a new election for early 2002.

The opposition parties have said they will vote against him even though they back sending troops.

The most likely outcome of an early election would be a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats, a pro-business combination that could lead to planned energy tax increases being dropped and larger future tax cuts, economists said.—Reuters