Germany's parliament has elected Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as the country's new Chancellor, ending 16 years of conservative rule under Angela Merkel.
Key points:
- Mr Scholz, who served as vice-chancellor, won a majority 395 votes in Germany's Bundestag
- His government will aim to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and climate change
- Politicians gave Angela Merkel a standing ovation as she watched from the spectators' gallery
Mr Scholz, 63, who served as vice-chancellor and finance minister in Ms Merkel's outgoing government, got a clear majority of 395 votes from politicians in the Bundestag.
His government takes office with high hopes of modernising Germany and combating climate change but faces the immediate challenge of handling the country’s toughest phase yet of the coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Scholz exchanged fist bumps with politicians from across the political spectrum after the vote.
He was formally named as Chancellor by Germany’s President and sworn in by the Speaker of parliament on Wednesday.
Ms Merkel, who is no longer a member of parliament, looked on from the spectators' gallery as parliament voted. Politicians gave her a standing ovation as the session started.
Mr Scholz brings a wealth of experience and discipline to an untried coalition of his centre-left Social Democrats, the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats.
"We are venturing a new departure, one that takes up the major challenges of this decade and well beyond that," Mr Scholz said on Tuesday.
If the parties succeed, he added, "that is a mandate to be re-elected together at the next election".
New German chancellor will lead a three-party coalition government
The three parties are portraying their uniting of former rivals as a progressive alliance that will bring new energy to the country after Ms Merkel's near-record time in office.
The new government aims to step up efforts to limit climate change by expanding the use of renewable energy and bringing Germany's exit from coal-fired power forward from 2038 "ideally" to 2030.
It also wants to do more to modernise the country, including improving its notoriously poor mobile phone and internet networks.
It also plans more liberal social policies, including legalising the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes and easing the path to German citizenship, while pledging greater efforts to deport immigrants who do not win asylum.
The coalition partners want to lower the voting age in national elections from 18 to 16.
The government also plans to increase Germany's minimum wage to 12 euros ($18.97) per hour from the current 9.60 euros, which Mr Scholz says "means a wage increase for 10 million".
And the coalition has also pledged to get 400,000 new apartments per year built in an effort to curb rising rental prices.
Mr Scholz has signalled continuity in foreign policy, saying the government would stand up for a strong European Union and nurture the trans-Atlantic alliance.
China's President Xi Jinping congratulated Mr Scholz, saying Beijing was willing to work with Germany's new chancellor to "promote bilateral ties to a new level", state media reported.
"China is willing to consolidate and deepen political mutual trust, expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields with Germany," Mr Xi told Mr Scholz, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
ABC/wires