The Bundestag deputies once again elected leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, Angela Merkel, as the German Chancellor. This was reported on the website of the federal government, - 112.ua reports.
Angela Merkel received 364 votes out of 692. 315 parliamentarians voted against, nine deputies abstained.
Later in the day, a ceremony at which German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will officially announce the appointment of Merkel as chancellor will be held. The ceremony will take place in the Bellevue Palace, after which the newly elected chancellor will return to the Bundestag and at about 12:00 (13:00 Kyiv time) will be sworn in.
Today the first meeting of the new German Cabinet of Ministers will also take place.
As it was reported earlier, the majority of Germany’s SPD voted for the formation of “grand coalition” with CDU/CSU. SPD stated this in the press-conference in Berlin on March 4. This way, nothing can interfere the formation of the government coalition. At the begging of February, the leaders of CDU/CSU agreed on the text of the coalition agreement, but Social Democrats made a condition: the agreement may be signed if rank-and-file party members approve it. According to the coalition agreement, the CDU and the SPD will receive six ministerial seats. Three more ministries will be headed by the CSU representatives.