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Constructive Vote of No Confidence in the Bundestag (October 1, 1982)

With the vote of no confidence on October 1, 1982, Helmut Schmidt’s tenure as Federal Chancellor ended, and CDU party chairman and fraction leader Helmut Kohl became his successor. Immediately after Schmidt was voted out of office, he congratulated Kohl with a handshake. In his first government policy address of October 13, 1982, Kohl proclaimed a “policy of renewal” and said that his “urgent measures program” would focus on creating jobs, securing the social welfare system, settling upon a “humane immigration policy,” and renewing German foreign and security policy. Assuming his chancellorship, Kohl claimed to represent “spiritual and moral turnaround” in the direction of conservatism. In the photograph below, members of the CDU/CSU Bundestag faction congratulate the new chancellor.

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Constructive Vote of No Confidence in the Bundestag (October 1, 1982)

© Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz / Peter Strack