Angela Merkel was elected Germany's first woman chancellor yesterday in a parliamentary vote that ends months of uncertainty and ushers in a fragile new government with the task of reviving Europe's largest economy.
Merkel, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), won the vote by 397 to 202 with 12 abstentions, well more than the 308 votes she needed in the 614-seat Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
She is Germany's eighth postwar chancellor and the first to have grown up in the former communist east.
She cracked a smile as the results were announced and appeared to fight back tears as the deputies applauded her.
Predecessor Gerhard Schroeder was the first to congratulate Merkel after parliamentary speaker Norbert Lammert announced the result to a hushed chamber.
"Dear Dr Merkel, you are now the first ever elected female head of government in Germany. That is a strong signal for many women, and certainly for some men too," Lammert said to laughter.
"Mr. Speaker, I accept the election," Merkel said.
Merkel and her Cabinet of conservatives and Social Democrats (SPD) will be sworn in later yesterday, formally taking over from the SPD-Greens government that Schroeder has led for the past seven years.
Her confirmation as chancellor comes two months after the CDU narrowly beat Schroeder's party in a general election she had been expected to win easily.
The result left the 51-year-old pastor's daughter with no choice but to form a coalition with her long-time rivals. During tough month-long coalition negotiations, Merkel had to abandon her plans for a shake-up of the German social welfare system.
Her government is vowing to repair relations with Washington, strained by Schroeder's opposition to the US-led war in Iraq. It has also promised to revive the economy, once Europe's motor but now one of the more sluggish in the 25-nation EU, and cut unemployment that hit postwar highs under Schroeder.
She must hope that the central plank of her coalition program -- an agreement to bring the budget deficit back within EU borrowing limits by 2007 through higher sales taxes -- will not hinder growth by cramping consumer spending.
With 397 votes, Merkel won more support in parliament than any previous chancellor, but 51 lawmakers from her coalition did not support her, leading some to express disappointment.
"It's not a very good result, but also not a bad one either. I would have preferred if it had been 401, but it's a good start," said Thomas De Maiziere, who will be Merkel's Chancellery chief.
Polls show a majority of Germans are convinced Merkel's unwieldy alliance -- the country's first "grand coalition" since the 1960s -- will not last a full four-year term.
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