Wiesbaden, Germany - The regional parliament in the German state of Hesse dissolved itself on Wednesday, clearing the way for early general elections in January.

All five parties represented in the 110-member legislature voted in favour of the move.

The state has been ruled by a caretaker government headed by conservative Prime Minister Roland Koch since inconclusive elections in January 2008.

Opposition Social Democrat (SPD) leader Andrea Ypsilanti tried twice to unseat Koch by forming an alliance with the environmentalist Greens, backed by the tacit support of the radical Left party.

But on both occasions the move was torpedoed by dissidents within her own party who objected to coopering with the Left, a collection of former east German communists and disaffected Social Democrats.

After her most recent defeat, Ypsilanti named SPD backbencher Thorsten Schaefer Guembel to take on Koch in new elections, probably on January 18.

Koch, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), said an early election was needed because none of the parties in parliament was in a position to form a coalition.

In one of its final acts before its dissolution, the legislature in Wiesbaden laid the groundwork for a 500-million-euro (630 million dollars) credit guarantee to ailing carmaker Opel.

Opel, which has been hit by the massive losses suffered by its US parent General Motors, has a factory employing 18,300 in the Hesse city of Ruesselsheim.

Ypsilanti's decision to seek support from the Left for a minority government led by her broke an election promise she made before this year's polls, leading to widespread criticism of her actions.

Opinion polls suggest the SPD would lose fresh elections in Hesse. At national level, the SPD rules in an uneasy coalition with Merkel's CDU. National polls are scheduled for September 2009. (dpa)