Carlo Schmid (German politician)

Schmid led the main committee of the Parliamentary Council, doing much of the detailed constitutional work behind Germany's Basic Law. One enduring choice was to require the Bundestag to elect a successor when removing a chancellor through a vote of no confidence. That rule seeks to stop a purely negative coalition from bringing down a government without producing another. It emerged from earlier proposals and collective drafting, so Schmid's committee leadership should not be mistaken for sole invention of the mechanism.