BERLIN (Reuters) - Despite leading her conservatives to their strongest election result in over two decades, German Chancellor Angela Merkel now faces the unsavoury prospect of having to court her arch-rivals on the left to maintain her grip on power.
Even her political enemies admitted on Sunday night that Merkel was the big winner of the first German vote since the euro zone debt crisis erupted nearly four years ago and thrust the reserved pastor's daughter from East Germany into the role of Europe's dominant leader.