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Germany's Merkel wins second term, forms new coalition
German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a second term on Sunday, along with the centre-right majority that eluded her four years ago nudging Europe's biggest economic power to the right as it claws its way out of a deep recession.
- Agencies
- Published: 20:12 September 27, 2009
Berlin: German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a second term on Sunday, along with the centre-right majority that eluded her four years ago nudging Europe's biggest economic power to the right as it claws its way out of a deep recession.
Voters sent the nation's main left-wing party, the Social Democrats of Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, into opposition after 11 years in government. It was the party's worst parliamentary election result since World War II.
The conservative Merkel ended her four-year "grand coalition" with Steinmeier's party thanks to a record showing by her new coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democrats. Her own Christian Democratic Union performed unimpressively.
"Tonight we can really celebrate," said a beaming Merkel, greeted by chants of "Angie! Angie!" from supporters. "(But) there are many problems in our country to be solved."
A subdued Steinmeier vowed to lead a strong opposition. "There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat," he said.
Merkel's CDU and its Bavaria-only sister, the Christian Social Union, won 33.8 percent of the vote and the Social Democrats took 23 percent. The Free Democrats captured 14.6 percent, the Left Party 11.9 percent and the Greens 10.7 percent.
That gave the conservatives 239 seats and the Free Democrats 93 in the lower house for a comfortable center-right majority of 332 seats to 290. The Social Democrats won 146, the Left Party 76 and the Greens 68.
It was a major shift from the 2005 election, in which Merkel's conservatives just squeaked past the Social Democrats.
The White House said President Barack Obama called Merkel to congratulate her and "looks forward to continued close cooperation" with her. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also congratulated her.
Merkel's second four-year term will be markedly different from her first, in which she presided over a middle-of-the-road government that was fractious but enjoyed a huge parliamentary majority.
Heather Conley, director of the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies' Europe Program, said the new government "is going to place much more burden on Chancellor Merkel to forge an agenda and implement it."
Merkel's popularity has been fueled by her consensual approach. She will now lead a narrower coalition with a stronger opposition and a self-confident new partner, but suggested that she will stick to her own style.
"My understanding was, and my understanding is, that I want to be the chancellor of all Germans," she told supporters, adding that protecting and creating jobs "will be my highest aim."
Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the Free Democrats, is widely expected to be the next foreign minister. His party is returning to government after an 11-year absence.
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