German parties to form post-Merkel government

Three parties announced Wednesday they had agreed on a governing coalition that will bring an end to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s 16-year tenure. Germany’s center-left Social Democrats bested Merkel’s center-right Christian Democrats to win more legislative seats in September elections. They are teaming up with two other parties to form a government with current Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz as Merkel’s likely successor.

What did Merkel accomplish? Since taking power in 2005, she led Germany through a global recession and helped negotiate Britain’s rocky withdrawal from the European Union. Under her leadership, Germany welcomed thousands of Syrian and Afghan refugees during the crisis of 2015. In 2017, she called for a vote on legalizing same-sex marriage after supporting only traditional marriage for years. She cast a symbolic “no” vote on the matter in line with her convictions, knowing the law would likely pass anyway.  Merkel was raised in East Germany and is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor.

Dig deeper: Read Leah Savas’ report in Vitals about the pro-life movement in Germany.