German Chancellor Angela Merkel was voted in for the third time as the country's head of government on Tuesday, following a vote by parliamentarians officially returning her to the position, dpa reported. Once Merkel has formally accepted the vote, she will be presented with a certificate of appointment by German President Joachim Gauck at Berlin's Bellevue Palace - the president's official residence. A third term was practically a given for the 59-year-old, who has been working since the September 22 election to negotiate an agreement between her centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD). The event marks the beginning of the third so-called grand coalition in Germany's post-war history.
