Merkels CDU agrees with big coalition

The CDU has approved the coalition agreement with the SPD by a large majority.

Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the outcome of the negotiations with the SPD before the vote. 'We fought hard, we had to compromise, but we also won a lot,' said the CDU leader. Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is the new general secretary of the party. The 55-year-old Prime Minister of Saarland succeeds Peter Tauber, who gave up the job for health reasons.