Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 16, 1994 TAG: 9411180065 SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Associated Press DATELINE: BONN, GERMANY LENGTH: Short
Kohl needed 337 votes in the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, to confirm his victory in the Oct. 16 federal elections. He squeaked by with 338.
The 64-year-old conservative, who has survived countless political scrapes since becoming chancellor in 1982, was sworn in for a fourth term by President Roman Herzog.
Three of the 341 legislators from the governing coalition voted against Kohl. But he said the narrowness of his victory wouldn't get in the way of his mission to expand European unity and further the unification of Germany.
He said he also wants ``to keep the German train on the track to Europe, so that no one in the future can derail the locomotive and return to the old nationalist thinking.''
If Kohl holds power for at least two years, he will pass Konrad Adenauer's 14-year mark and become Germany's longest-serving chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, who held power from 1871 to 1890.
Kohl will announce his Cabinet on Thursday. It is expected to shrink from 18 to 16 posts but retain most of the old faces in key jobs.
by CNB