Angela Merkel on Wednesday was voted Germany’s chancellor for the fourth time, almost six months since the national election, The Guardian reported. Merkel got 364 votes in the 709-member lower house, 11 more than required to gain an absolute majority.
Merkel’s swearing-in ceremony has been scheduled for later in the day. “I accept the vote,” said the German leader, who has been at the helm of Europe’s top economy for 12 years.
Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party formed an alliance and have a total of 399 votes between them. While Merkel’s CDU won the largest number of seats – 238 – in the German elections in September 2017, it failed to win a majority in the 690-seat Parliament. The SDP finished second with 148 seats while the Alternative for Germany became the first far-right party to enter the country’s parliament in six decades, winning 95 seats.
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