Germany getting first female chancellor
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-10 20:45

Conservative leader Angela Merkel on Monday confirmed a coalition deal that will make her Germany's first female chancellor under the terms of a power-sharing agreement that would end Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder's seven years in office.

Conservative challenger Angela Merkel, left, rings a bell at the start of a meeting of the party executive of her Christian Democrats in Berlin on Monday, Oct. 10, 2005, after Monday's meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his key ally Social Democratic Party Chairman Franz Muentefering and her fellow conservative leader Edmund Stoiber. Conservative leader Angela Merkel would become Germany's first female chancellor under a power-sharing agreement that would end Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder's seven years in office, Social Democratic officials said Monday. [AP]

Speaking at a press conference, Merkel called the deal "good and fair" and said the parties agreed that "there is no alternative to a reform course" for Germany. The deal, which must still pass coalition negotiations on important details, gives her side six seats and the Social Democrats eight in a new cabinet.