BERLIN, July 1 (Xinhuanet) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government lost a vote of confidence on Friday in the Bundestag parliament as planned, paving the way for early national elections.

     The result, which Schroeder had pursued, came after 151 members of the Bundestag lower chamber voted for, 296 against and 148 abstained in the vote of confidence Friday morning.

    Schroeder, seeking an early general election in mid-September, had asked some of his coalition party members to abstain from voting in the vote.

    His Social Democratic Party (SPD) and coalition Greens, who enjoy majority in the Bundestag, had to abstain to achieve a no-confidence result.

    SPD chief Franz Muentefering also requested all 304 SPD membersin the chamber to abstain.

    The chancellor needs to fail in the vote so that he can presentthe argument of his government's "inability to act effectively" toask German Federal President Horst Koehler to dissolve the parliament and announce an earlier election.

    Schroeder, who is fighting a sluggish economy and a high jobless rate of 11 percent, announced in May that the general election would be moved up a year to this autumn. His SPD party was defeated in a state election in its stronghold North Rhine-Westphalia more than a month ago.

    After the vote, Schroeder will formally request that early elections be held by President Koehler, who has 21 days to make his decision. If he approves, new elections must be held within 60days of the approval.

    The president could reject new elections on legal grounds even though most political experts do not expect such a move as all major parties prefer an early election.

    Polls in Germany show that support for Schroeder lags behind Angela Merkel, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union.Enditem