Merkel set to be Germany's first woman chancellor
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-22 09:19

Angela Merkel is set to become Germany's first woman chancellor on Tuesday, but must avoid infighting in a coalition with former leftist foes to implement reforms designed to revive Europe's largest economy.

The 51-year-old pastor's daughter, also set to be the first chancellor to have grown up in Germany's formerly east, is widely expected to win strong backing from parliament to take over the post from Gerhard Schroeder.

But a majority of Germans are convinced the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader will not last a full four-year term because she had to strike a coalition deal with Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) after inconclusive elections.

Merkel was forced during tough, month-long coalition talks to abandon a planned major shake-up of the German social welfare system that had been a cornerstone of her economic reforms.

She has vowed to resuscitate the economy, once Europe's motor but now one of the most sluggish in the 25-nation European Union, and cut unemployment that hit post-war highs under Schroeder.

Christian Democrat (CDU) leader and German Chancellor-designate Angela Merkel smiles before a meeting of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in Berlin November 21, 2005. [Reuters]

Merkel also wants to repair relations with the United States, strained by Schroeder's vocal opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

MERKEL VOTE

The CDU and SPD dominate the new parliament and that should help Merkel easily win the majority she needs to be confirmed as chancellor in a vote scheduled for 10 a.m. (0900 GMT).

After the vote, she and her cabinet will be sworn in and formally take over from the SPD-Greens coalition government that Schroeder has led for the past seven years.

Merkel looks likely to provide a sharp break in style from the flamboyant Schroeder, who favored Italian suits and fat cigars as well as seeming to be most at ease when in the media spotlight.

Her clinical, almost shy approach, has been mocked in the German media, but some commentators believe it is tailor-made for her new so-called grand coalition that bridges right and left and will require delicate handling.

"Her dislike of the theatrical in politics, of the show and big words, fits with the new sobriety of Germany's younger generation," the German daily newspaper Handelsblatt said in an editorial due to appear on Tuesday.

Like her political mentor, former Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel has been underestimated throughout her career.

That helped her push aside rivals in her male-dominated, heavily Catholic CDU and may play to her advantage again.

Her cabinet is dominated by pragmatists and the stability of her government could also be helped by a strong sense within the two camps in the coalition that failure would prompt voters to abandon them in any early elections.

Merkel has made cutting unemployment a top priority and the handling of this goal could determine the fate of her government.

The coalition's program, unveiled earlier this month, is an assortment of compromises that economists say could hurt Merkel's ability to get Germany's economy back on track.

At its heart is an agreement to bring the budget deficit back within EU borrowing limits by 2007 -- a colossal challenge requiring upwards of 35 billion euros in savings or extra revenues.

Much of that sum will come from higher taxes.

The parties have agreed to raise sales tax by 3 percentage points in 2007.

They are hoping consumers will step up spending before the increase to give the economy a crucial boost in the coalition's first year in office.