An era in European politics ended last night when Dr Helmut Kohl became the first German chancellor since the second World War to be voted out of office. In a dramatic shift to the left, yesterday's election saw support for Dr Kohl's Christian Democrats (CDU) fall by almost 7 per cent, while the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) gained 5 per cent.
Mr Gerhard Schroder (54), the prime minister of Lower Saxony, is now almost certain to become chancellor at the head of a Social Democrat-led government. The Greens, who first entered the Bundestag in 1983, were expected last night to be the junior partners in the new government.
"After 16 years, the Kohl era came to an end today. The new centre has decided. It has returned to the Social Democrats," Mr Schroder told cheering supporters in Bonn.
Projections last night put support for the SPD at 41.4 per cent, with the CDU at 34.7 per cent, the Greens at 6.6 per cent, the Free Democrats at 6.2 per cent and the ex-communist Party of Democratic Socialism at 5.2 per cent.
Dr Kohl conceded defeat an hour after the polls closed and announced his resignation as chairman of the CDU, a position he has held for 25 years.
"The SPD have won the election. The voters have clearly decided in favour of red-green (SPD and Greens). This is a personal victory for Gerhard Schroder and I congratulate them. I was the candidate and I take responsibility for this defeat, without ifs or buts," he told an emotional gathering of party activists in Bonn.
Mr Schroder declined to speculate on a future coalition government but the SPD and the Greens were expected to have a majority of between four and six seats in the Bundestag. Mr Schroder repeated his pledge not to depend on the votes of the PDS to become chancellor.
Theoretically, a grand coalition of Social Democrats and Christian Democrats remains a possibility but it is unlikely to come about unless negotiations between the SPD and the Greens break down.
The SPD chairman, Mr Oskar Lafontaine, indicated last night that he expected a swift resolution of differences between the parties over such questions as how quickly Germany should shut down all nuclear power stations.
"It's the same within families. Some want to do things more quickly, others more slowly," he said.
The outgoing Finance Minister, Mr Theo Waigel, who leads Dr Kohl's allies in the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), warned against a grand coalition, which he said would only benefit the SPD.
The scale of Mr Schroder's victory was a surprise even to the candidate himself, although it reflected most of the final opinion polls. Unemployment was the most important issue for most voters, followed by the economy, taxation and crime. Dr Kohl's strongest issue, foreign policy, came well down the list of priorities for most voters.
Mr Schroder fought a campaign along similar lines to those of President Clinton in the United States and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair. He promised last night to govern in the spirit of the "new centre" and to push through the reforms needed to combat Germany's record unemployment.
"It will be our task to modernise our country and to dissolve the log-jam in reform. It will be the task of a new government to bring our people together and to overcome inner divisions," he said.
Among the surprises of the election was the strong performance of the ex-communist Party of Democratic Socialism, which was set to enter the Bundestag comfortably. The party succeeded in broadening its support in the west of the country, suggesting that it is on its way to establishing itself as a durable force in German politics.
The parties of the extreme right, on the other hand, failed to make an impact on the election and also polled badly in a state election in the eastern state of MecklenburgWest Pomerania that was held simultaneously with the federal election.
With most votes counted last night, the make-up of the new, 656-seat Bundestag was expected to be as follows: SPD 289 seats; CDU 242 seats; Greens 46 seats; FDP 43 seats; PDS 36 seats.
This projection gives the SPD and the Greens a joint majority of six seats.
