German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday called for early national elections this autumn after his Social Democratic Party (SPD) suffered a heavy defeat in elections in the key state of North Rhine-Westphalia Sunday.

"It is my obligation and responsibility to call new elections as early as possible," Schroeder told reporters in Berlin.

"My party's bitter defeat in North Rhine-Westphalia has raised questions over the political basis of our work," Schroeder said, adding that "I think a clear majority of support by Germans is absolutely necessary."

Schroeder said that this autumn is realistic time for a new elections and he would consult with German President Horst Koehler on the election date.

Earlier in the day, SPD Chairman Franz Muentefering said SPD will hold party member summit meeting Tuesday on federal and state levels and discuss the advance of the national elections.

"We seek decision. It is time that circumstances in Germany should be clarified," Muentefering said.

"The people should say who do they want to be administrated," he added.

The opposition party Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who gains victory in the state elections, said it is ready to accept proposal for an early election, which had been planned in autumn in 2006.
 
"We are prepared for a new election," CDU Secretary-General Volker Kauder told reporters in Berlin.

The lower house of parliament Bundestag has the final say on whether to hold the general elections at an earlier date.

SPD was defeated in the elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, ending 39 years rule in the most populous state on Sunday, exit polls showed.

The CDU led SPD by nearly 8 percentage points, according to latest exit polls.

SPD gained only 37.6 percent of the votes while CDU climbed to about 44.6 percent.

The Greens Party, SPD's junior partner in the coalition government, and the Free Democratic Party, partner of CDU, got some 6.0 percent respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency May 23, 2005)