Angela Merkel wins second term in office
Angela Merkel wins second term in office
Also In The News
|
Madonna has topped the UK album chart with her third greatest hits album, Celebration. |  |
Monday, 28, Sep 2009 09:07
By Richard James.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has secured a second term in office after sweeping back into power in Germany's parliamentary election on Sunday.
Ms Merkel will now begin discussions to build a coalition between her centre-right CDU/CSU party and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
Addressing supporters after her election victory, the German chancellor declared: "We have achieved something great.
"We have achieved our aim of gaining a stable majority for a new government."
She warned though that Germany still faced "many problems" in light of the global recession.
The election sent the country's main left-wing party, the Social Democrats (SPD) into opposition after 11 years in government.
The party suffered its worst election result since the second world war and ended the coalition with Ms Merkel's Christian Democratic Union.
The White House confirmed US president Barack Obama has already contacted Ms Merkel and promised a strong German government would lead to greater ties with the United States.
The election victory will allow Ms Merkel the chance to push ahead on issues such as tax relief and reform of the tax code.