German parliament elects chancellor Angela Merkel for fourth term

New Delhi: The German federal parliament, Bundestag, on Wednesday confirmed Angela Merkels’ fourth term as the German Chancellor. She was officially re-elected with a thin majority of lawmakers in the lower parliament backing her candidacy in a vote on Wednesday. Following months of negotiations with the Social Democratic Party (SPD) that culminated in the revival of the so-called grand coalition, Christian Democratic Union leader embarked on her fourth term at the helm of German politics. In a secret ballot, 364 of the Bundestag's 709 members voted in favour of Merkel -- nine more than the 50 per cent required, CNN reported.

Angela Merkel has been re-elected as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of #Germany by the German Bundestag https://t.co/45pEULfS0t

— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) March 14, 2018

  The former leader of the SPD, Martin Schulz, had initially ruled out a new grand coalition, vowing to take his party into opposition, but was forced to change his stance after coalition talks between the CDU, Green Party and liberal FDP collapsed in November, raising the possibility of new elections. After weeks of negotiations, a coalition treaty was produced and later approved by SPD members who voted via postal ballot. Merkel will first travel to the Berlin residence of German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to be officially nominated before returning to the Bundestag to be sworn in as Chancellor later in the day (With inputs from IANS)