Merkel Takes Over and Faces Instant Rebellion

Angela Merkel has become Germany's first woman chancellor, winning 397 votes in the 614-seat Bundestag, or lower house. Her election yesterday marks the end of months of political chaos following the general election in September, which neither of the two major parties won. Ms Merkel presides over a "grand coalition" government made up of conservatives from her Christian Democrats and the centre-left Social Democrats.

But there were signs of trouble. Some 51 MPs from the two coalition parties failed to vote for Ms Merkel, with most of the rebels almost certainly coming from within the SPD. A few of Ms Merkel's fellow conservatives may also have put the knife in.

"The fact that dozens of SPD MPs failed to vote for her is a sign of how fragile this government is. It's a wobbly coalition," said Guido Westerwelle, the leader of the opposition Free Liberals. "There's now a possibility that the government will collapse before the end of its [four-year] legislature period."

But ministers in the new government insisted the vote was good enough. "It's a good result," said education minister Annette Schavan. "It's also a wonderful signal to young women, who up until now didn't have a role model in politics."

Others disagreed. "It's important to have the first woman leader in Germany. But ultimately it's not the woman that counts but the politics," said Claudia Roth, the Green party leader, complaining that the new government had said little about climate change.

Ms Merkel faces the task of reviving the struggling economy and bringing down unemployment, now at 4.55 million.