German Parliament re-elected Angela Merkel as Chancellor

On the morning of December 17, the 18th German Parliament re-elected Dr. Angela Merkel as Chancellor.

This is the third consecutive term that the 59-year-old politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party has been elected to lead the government of the European Union's largest economy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel receives congratulatory flowers after being elected as chancellor for a third term at the National Assembly session in Berlin on December 17. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

With an overwhelming support rate in the first vote, Ms. Merkel received 462 votes in favor, 150 votes against and 9 abstentions.

Immediately after the vote results were announced, Ms. Merkel made a speech thanking the MPs for their trust. Parliament President Norbert Lammert congratulated Ms. Merkel on her re-election and the difficult task ahead.

According to plan, after being re-elected by the National Assembly, Ms. Merkel and her cabinet will be sworn in on the same day and the government will hold its first meeting on the evening of December 17.

The general election on September 22 did not bring a favorable result for any party, so the party that won the most seats in the National Assembly had to negotiate a coalition to gain a majority to form a government.

The 18th German Parliament has a total of 631 seats, of which the three-party coalition of the CDU, the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) alone holds 504 seats.

The new government was formed after a tense negotiation process as the parties wanted to include their platforms, issues that caused disagreement and were each party's "unique features" in the coalition agreement. And with the constraints on policies as well as the division of sectors and cabinet members, Chancellor Merkel will likely face a difficult term ahead./.

According to VNA