BERLIN, July 21: President Horst Koehler agreed on Thursday to dissolve parliament and allow early elections, putting Germany on track for a Sept 18 vote that polls suggest will usher in a new reform-minded conservative government. 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 in a regional vote.

The federal election could still be thwarted if Germany’s top court finds that Mr 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.—Reuters