Published December 11, 2015
Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking her conservative party's support for a new German government alliance with its center-left rivals and pointing to continuity in Berlin's hard-nosed approach to Europe's debt crisis.
Merkel's Christian Democrats emerged the strongest force from September elections but fell short of a majority, and their previous, pro-business coalition partners were voted out of parliament. Merkel then negotiated with the center-left Social Democrats to form a "grand coalition" of Germany's biggest parties.
Merkel appealed to a party conference Monday to back the resulting agreement, which features some center-left demands such as a national minimum wage and making it easier for some people to retire early.
The Social Democrats are putting the deal to a ballot of their entire 470,000-strong membership. The result is expected this weekend.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/merkel-seeks-her-partys-support-for-new-german-coalition-points-to-continuity-on-europe