Merkel's Party Backs Coalition Deal With Social Democrats

Germany's CDU voted in favor of a coalition agreement with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the wake of the chancellor's pledge to rejuvenate her party. All but 27 of the 975 CDU delegates attending the congress supported the partnership.

The plan is yet to be approved by the SPD; the final results are expected to be announced on Sunday, March 4.

The CDU has been in disarray following the September 2017 parliamentary elections in Germany that saw the party's poorest result in 49 years, gaining 33 percent of the vote together with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). The election outcomes have forced Merkel to seek a coalition with smaller parties.

The chancellor initially planned to form a coalition with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), but the preliminary talks with them collapsed.

READ MORE: Merkel to Appoint Persistant Party Critic as Germany's Health Minister — Reports

Earlier this month, Merkel announced that the talks on creation of the alliance between the CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD to form the new government had been completed.