You're reading: Reuters: German lawmakers elect Merkel to fourth term

Reuters: German lawmakers elect Merkel to fourth term

Published March 14, 2018 at 12:22 pm

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) is congratulated by Volker Kauder (2nd R), parliamentary group leader of the conservative CDU/CSU, after she was re-elected as Chancellor during a session at the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) on March 14, 2018 in Berlin.Angela Merkel, head of the Christian Democratic Union Party (CDU), starts her fourth term as German chancellor, capping months of political uncertainty as she bartered with her rivals of the social democratic SPD to help govern Europe's top economy in a "grand coalition".

Photo by AFP

German lawmakers voted on March 14 to re-elect Angela Merkel as chancellor for a fourth, and likely final, term that may prove her most challenging yet as she takes charge of a fragile coalition with her personal standing diminished.

Lawmakers voted by 364 to 315, with nine abstentions, in favor of re-electing Merkel, a humbling start as the coalition of her conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) has 399 votes in the Bundestag lower house of parliament.