Under Article 67 of the Basic Law, the Bundestag can remove a chancellor only by electing a successor at the same time, with an absolute majority. This is the constructive vote of no confidence. It answers the Weimar Constitution, which allowed parliament to bring down a government without electing a new one. The vote has been tried twice. In 1972, Rainer Barzel failed against Willy Brandt. Ten years later, Helmut Kohl replaced Helmut Schmidt.