On October 1, 1982, the West German Bundestag debated and passed a motion of no confidence in the government of Helmut Schmidt, the West German Chancellor since 1974, after the coalition agreement between the governing Social Democratic Party and Free Democratic Party had collapsed due to disagreements about economic policy.[1] The motion resulted in the ascension of Christian Democratic Union leader Helmut Kohl as chancellor who would hold office until 1998.
| Date | 1st Oct 1982 |
|---|---|
| Location | Bundestag, West Germany |
| Cause | Disagreements within the Third Schmidt cabinet over economic policy |
| Participants | |
| Outcome | Motion passed. |
Legal provisions
editGermany's Basic Law provides that a chancellor can be removed mid-term by a constructive vote of no confidence if a majority of the Bundestag votes for confidence in an alternate candidate for Chancellor.
(1) The Bundestag may express its lack of confidence in the Federal Chancellor only by electing a successor by the vote of a majority of its Members and requesting the Federal President to dismiss the Federal Chancellor. The Federal President must comply with the request and appoint the person elected.
(2) Forty-eight hours shall elapse between the motion and the election.— Article 67 of the Basic Law[2]
Background
editThe SDP-FDP coalition, first formed in 1969, had been growing apart since the 1980 election. Following Walter Scheel's election to the presidency, Hans-Dietrich Genscher had been elected as the new leader of the Free Democratic Party. More conservative than his predecessor, he was less willing to greenlight further government spending.[3]
Tensions between the two parties grew worse following the state elections in West Berlin in 1981, when the state FDP branch formed a coalition with the opposition Christian Democratic Union, under Genscher's orders.[4]
Ongoing talks in the media of the coalition's potential to break down eventually led to Schmidt forcing his FDP ministers to resign on the 17th of September, who promptly began coalition negotiations with the CDU, which introduced a no-confidence motion against the government just two weeks later.
Vote
edit| Motion of no confidence Helmut Kohl (CDU) | ||
| Ballot → | October 1, 1982 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 249 out of 497 
| |
| Yes | 256 / 497
| |
| No | 235 / 497
| |
| Abstensions | 4 / 497
| |
| Absentees | 2 / 497
| |
| Sources[1][a] | ||
Aftermath
editOn October 13, two weeks after his ascension, Kohl gave his first policy statement in which called for the new government to take up a policy of renewal and pursue an "emergency program" for creating jobs and securing the welfare system.[5] Kohl soon used his new power to call for snap parliamentary elections for March 1983 at which the new CDU/FDP coalition was promptly re-elected.[6]
Notes
edit- ^ Vote totals per party are not available, as the vote took place under a secret ballot.
References
edit- ^ a b "BONN PARLIAMENT VOTES OUT SCHMIDT AND ELECTS KOHL". New York Times. New York. NYT. 2 Oct 1982. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany". Federal Office of Justice. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ "Hans-Dietrich Genscher: Ein Leben in Bildern" (in German). Tagesschau. 12 July 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
- ^ Bark, Dennis L.; Gress, David (1989). A History of West Germany. Vol. 2: Democracy and Its Discontents, 1963–1988. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. pp. 370–371. ISBN 0-631-16787-0. OCLC 18907067.
- ^ "Constructive Vote of No Confidence in the Bundestag (October 1, 1982)". German History in Documents and Images. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
- ^ Bark & Gress 1989, pp. 381–382.