German Chancellor Angela Merkel smiles after voting in favour of the coalition deal during a party congress in Berlin December 9, 2013. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU) voted on Monday to approve a coalition with the arch-rival Social Democrats (SPD) after Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her conservatives to swallow some of their misgivings and back the deal.
Merkel won September's election but fell short of a majority and struck an agreement on November 27 for a "grand coalition" with the centre-left SPD. All 474,000 SPD members are now voting on it in a postal ballot whose results are expected this weekend.
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