Merkel averts pre-election rebellion on women's quotas

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel averted a potentially embarrassing defeat in parliament when rebel members of her centre-right coalition accepted a compromise plan on Monday to require German companies to put more women on their boards.

The threat of a rebellion had loomed just five months before Germany holds an election in which Merkel will be trying to win a third term. Leading conservatives, including Labour Minister Ursula von der Leyen, were threatening to break ranks and vote with opposition parties, convinced that voluntary pledges to appoint more women have proven inadequate.