Germany's SPD members agree to Merkel coalition deal

Members of Germany's Social Democratic Party on Saturday agreed to a coalition government with conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, dpa reported. The result paves the way for Merkel's re-election Tuesday to the chancellorship, a post she has held since 2005. The SPD, Germany's main centre-left party, announced the result after counting votes on Saturday from a postal ballot of its wider membership on whether to agree to the coalition deal hammered out by party leaders. The party said some 76 per cent of those who voted approved the deal, with 24 per cent against. The vote in favour was a groundbreaking move, SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel said shortly after the result became known. This day would not just go down in the history of social democracy in Germany, but also in the history of Germany itself, Gabriel said. He called it a "celebration of inner-party democracy" as supporters cheered. The SPD has about 475,000 active members. The SPD leadership had earlier voiced confidence it would win over the rank-and-file majority to ally with Merkel, despite fears among party radicals that there have been too many compromises withn Merkel's conservatives. If the SPD vote had failed, Merkel's efforts at government formation would have gone back to square one. Her only other practical optionswould have been to invite the reluctant Green Party into a coalition, or to call a fresh election to break the deadlock