Germany: Parliament Confirms Chancellor Merkel For Fourth Term

Angela Merkel

BERLIN — Angela Merkel was elected to a fourth term as German chancellor, Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, confirmed Wednesday.

The conservative Merkel will govern in a so-called grand coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD). Her election by the parliament ends 171 days of waiting after Germany's national popular election on September 24, 2017.

In all, 364 members of the Bundestag voted for Merkel, while 315 voted against her. There were nine abstentions, and eleven parliamentarians didn't cast valid ballots.

Merkel's conservatives won September's election, taking 33% of the vote, ahead of the SPD with 20.5%. But both of those figures were down sharply from 2013, due in part to the rise of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which took 12.6%.

Merkel's first attempt to form a coalition, with the center-right Free Democrats and the Greens, failed. But she succeeded in doing a deal with the SPD after weeks of late-night negotiation and over the opposition of many regional SPD leaders and one-third of the party rank and file.

The 63 year old Merkel will now begin her fourth term as German chancellor and her third as the leader of a grand coalition.


(USA TODAY)





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