Germany's Angela Merkel was formally elected chancellor for a second term on Wednesday by members of parliament, paving the way for her new centre-right coalition to take the reins of power later in the day.

Merkel's conservatives won enough votes in a Sept. 27 poll to form a government with the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) and put an end to their awkward four-year "grand coalition" with the rival Social Democrats (SPD).

Merkel, 55, became Germany's first woman chancellor in 2005 and is the only leader of the country to have grown up in the former communist East.

In her new coalition, she has said her priority will be to ensure Europe's biggest economy emerges stronger from the financial crisis.

President Horst Koehler will swear in Merkel and the ministers in her new cabinet later on Wednesday.



Reuters