Germany's Federal Constitutional Court removed the final barrier on Thursday for snap parliamentary elections scheduled for September. The court ruled Chancellor Gerhard Schröder acted within his constitutional right when he called a vote of confidence on July 1. His government failed the vote and the chancellor then submitted a petition to Horst Köhler, Germany's president, to dissolve the Bundestag. Three weeks later, on July 22, Koehler gave his approval and demanded, as is required under the German constitution, that elections be held within 60 days.

However, two members of the government coalition -- Werner Schulz of the Green Party and Jelena Hoffman of the Social Democrats -- challenged those decisions at the Constitutional Court, saying the vote of confidence had been a sham. But on Thursday, the Constitutional Court rejected those claims. "The vote of confidence," the court ruling stated, "intended to dissolve parliament is a justified measure of article 68 of the constitution insofar as it serves the purpose of reestablishing a federal government that is sufficiently anchored in parliament."

Critics felt that a petulant Schröder, frustrated by an impasse in parliament over needed reforms, was abusing his power dangerously and, in doing so, threatening Germany's political stability. It wasn't that he didn't have a reliable government, they argued, he just couldn't push through a package of reforms that was unpopular both within and without his government. They also liked to point their fingers at an uncomfortable statistic that came the same week as the confidence vote. If the Bundestag was capable of passing 40 laws the day before the confidence vote, how could one argue that Schröder didn't have a reliable majority in parliament? The constitution permits the dissolution of parliament only if a chancellor no longer has the majority support for his policies necessary to effectively govern the country.