End of an era: Merkel officially leaves post, stays as caretaker
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Germany鈥檚 Angela Merkel was officially dismissed as chancellor on Tuesday after16 years in office, as part of her plan to retire, although she will lead a caretaker government until her successor is sworn in.
Her likely successor is Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats, her vice chancellor and finance minister since 2018.
Hours earlier, Merkel had attended the opening session of Germany鈥檚 new parliament in Berlin, taking a seat in the VIP gallery as the recently elected lawmakers met for the first time.
Merkel, who first won a seat in the Bundestag 31 years ago, did not run again in the September 26 election.
Lawmakers elected Baerbal Bas, a member of the center-left Social Democratic Party, as speaker of the 736-member lower house.
She succeeds Wolfgang Schaeuble, a 79-year-old conservative and former finance and interior minister, who was also the longest-serving member of the last parliament, first elected in 1972.
Bas, whose party narrowly beat Merkel鈥檚 center-right Union bloc, has been a member of the Bundestag since 2009. The 53-year-old was a deputy leader of her party鈥檚 parliamentary group in the last parliament and its spokesperson on health, education and research.
Bas told fellow lawmakers that she would work for fairer representation of women in parliament.
She is only the third woman to head the Bundestag since its creation in 1949.
鈥淭he responsibility has by far not been spread fairly on all shoulders,鈥 she said.
While the Bundestag has more female members following last month鈥檚 election, women are still a long way from reaching parity in the national legislature.
More than a third, or 34.7 percent, of the new lawmakers are women compared to 31.4 percent in the previous parliament, according to the German news agency dpa.
Bas emphasized that even though parliament does not yet reflect the full diversity of German society, the new Bundestag has become more diverse, with more immigrant lawmakers and younger members.
She vowed to protect the lower house against hatred and promised: 鈥淚 will defend democracy against its enemies.鈥
The three parties that hope to form Germany鈥檚 new government said last week they aim to have the country鈥檚 next chancellor in place in early December, but acknowledged that they face a complex task.
The Social Democrats, environmentalist Greens and pro-business Free Democrats opened formal coalition talks following a preliminary deal earlier this month, which set out their priorities but left many open questions.
German coalition talks are an elaborate affair, producing an agreement that sets out details of the government鈥檚 program for its four-year term. They have tended to get longer over the years as the country鈥檚 political landscape has fragmented, meaning that elections rarely produce parliamentary majorities for traditional allies.
If the negotiations succeed, the new government will send Merkel鈥檚 center-right Union bloc into opposition after 16 years at the helm.
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