designate Horst Seehofer, 59, said he had reached terms with the smaller Free Democrat Party (FDP) to rule jointly. The FDP said it would be allocated two ministries and had won a promise to block legislation which would have allowed police to enter private homes to plant surveillance devices in terrorism suspects' computers. Seehofer is to seek election as premier by the Bavarian legislature on Monday, with success as good as certain. Merkel is allied federally with both the CSU and SPD and has struggled to rein in their independent tendencies in light of the upcoming German general election. She has made no secret of her preference for a coalition with the FDP, which is in opposition at federal level. A successful Bavarian CSU-FDP coalition would make the prospect of a nationwide CDU-CSU- FDP coalition easier for voters to envisage. The Bavaria-only CSU has similar policies to Merkel's own Christian Democrats, but has sometimes sniped at her rule. Seehofer is set to retire as federal agriculture and consumer affairs minister to become premier in Munich. The CSU last month lost a third of its traditional support in a state legislative election. The CSU premier, Guenther Beckstein, announced his resignation, clearing the way for Seehofer.
