Germany's leading political parties overwhelmingly approved their coalition deal Monday, removing the last major obstacle to a new bipartisan government led by conservative Angela Merkel.

At separate party congresses, Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and their long-time rivals, the Social Democrats (SPD), endorsed a pact creating Germany's first "grand coalition" since the 1960s. Some will remain skeptical it can hold together.

"This is the starting point for a journey together with a partner we have been locked in a deep struggle with for 40 years," Merkel told CDU members in Berlin.

"The success of the grand coalition will be measured on whether people are better off at the end of it," she added.

After a month of tough talks, the three parties announced on Friday they had sealed a coalition agreement, breaking nearly two months of political deadlock which followed an inconclusive September 18 election.

The deal foresees a sudden and dramatic consolidation of the German budget in 2007, driven by a rise in sales tax, and has drawn condemnation from industry, which fears the higher taxes will hit German consumers.

Gripes have also come from within the ranks of the coalition parties themselves, particularly conservatives who feel Merkel gave the SPD too much in her quest to become chancellor.

Although she did exact modest concessions to loosen job protection measures and cut payroll costs moves she says are key to encourage German firms to hire her party has had to swallow a rise in taxes for top earners and had to abandon its hopes for a shake-up of rules governing wage negotiations.

The dissenting voices did not stand in the way of the deal yesterday, with only a small portion of delegates from the three parties voting against or abstaining.

Merkel must still be elected chancellor in a November 22 vote the Bundestag lower house of parliament, but given the coalition partners' overwhelming majority there, that vote is expected to be a formality.

She takes the reins of a potentially fragile, unwieldy coalition that a majority of Germans believe will not last for the full four year legislative term.

"No one is forcing anyone to love this grand coalition or to cheer about it," outgoing Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in the southwestern city of Karlsruhe. But he urged party members to endorse the pact, saying it was Germany's only chance for a stable government.

(China Daily November 15, 2005)