With the Social Democrats and ecology-minded Greens jointly running the country for the first time, both parties have pledged to buttress the social welfare state while promising continuity in foreign policy.

On the eve of the legislature's opening session today, Schroeder promised ``a new beginning for Germany'' after 16 years of Conservative rule by Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Schroeder, 54, is to be formally elected chancellor tomorrow by the new 669-seat parliament, which has a four-year term. He will lead the nation through historic changes: the government's return to the pre-war capital, Berlin, next year, and the January 1 debut of Europe's single currency, the Euro.

Today, parliament was expected to elect its first president from former Communist East Germany. Wolfgang Thierse, a 55-year-old Social Democrat, was active in theEast German democracy movement that brought down the Berlin wall in 1989.

Amid Schroeder's talk about the future, Fred Gebhardt will provide the link to Germany's past when he opens parliament as the new legislature's oldest member.

Gebhardt, 70, joined politics as a teenager after his grandfather, a Social Democratic lawmaker during the 1920s, was killed by the Nazis at the end of World War II. Gebhardt won his seat on the ticket of the former East German Communists.

Social Democrats and Greens, who have a comfortable 21-seat majority, cleared the way for the new administration by approving their coalition pact at weekend conventions.

The programme includes pledges to close nuclear power plants, tax relief for people with average incomes, and allowing more foreigners to become German citizens -- projects that were blocked or unthinkable during the Kohl era.

For the new parliament, the ex-Communists have proposed a vice president for the first time after increasing their share of the vote above a5-per cent benchmark on September 27.

Conservative opponents have vowed to challenge Petra Blaess' nomination, but her approval seemed likely after Social Democrats and Greens said on Sunday that they would back her.