German President Horst Koehler has dissolved parliament, paving the way for an early election requested by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to avoid a year of political deadlock that would be damaging for the economy.

Koehler said in an address to the public that he has dissolved the 15th German parliament and determined that there shall be election on September 18.

Koehler said he is convinced that the constitutional preconditions are given'' to dissolve parliament.

The opposition's majority in the upper house of parliament has limited Schroeder's ability to push through policies to boost growth and cut unemployment from close to a post-World War II high.

Schroeder's Social Democrats trail the main opposition by as many as 17 percentage points in opinion polls.

Schroeder, who is seeking a third term, deliberately lost a confidence vote in the lower house of parliament on July 1 and asked Koehler to dissolve the legislature and set the date for new election. He argued that he has lost the trust of the majority of lawmakers and needs a fresh mandate for policies to spur growth.

(CRI.com July 22, 2005)