German Social Democratic Party Accepts Coalition with Angela Merkel

After five months of political ambiguity in Germany, the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) finally accepted on Sunday to join a coalition with Angela Merkel's party despite internal party opposition. A postal vote among 460,000 SPD members was conducted in recent weeks, and the party officials announced on Sunday, March 4, after two days of counting, that 66% of members voted 'yes' to joining the coalition. The initial agreement between Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and two other parties, including the SPD and the Christian Social Union (CSU), was reached about a month ago, but the SPD conditioned its participation on an internal party vote. Angela Merkel, leader of the CDU, has been Germany's Chancellor for 12 years and had formed a coalition government with the SPD for the past eight years. However, the SPD performed poorly in the elections held in September, about five months ago. Merkel congratulated the SPD on the internal vote results, stating in a Twitter message on Sunday that she looks forward to 'further cooperation for the benefit of our country.' The SPD's political decision has also been welcomed by European partners. French President Emmanuel Macron described the decision as 'good news for Europe,' and his office announced that with the formation of a coalition government in Germany, the two countries would 'begin cooperation on developing the European project.' Several EU officials have also welcomed the formation of the coalition in Germany. The far-right party 'Alternative for Germany' (AfD), which gained 94 seats in the recent elections and became the third-largest party in Germany for the first time, stated that with the news of the coalition government, it considers itself the 'main opposition' and focuses on 'professionalizing itself.'