Olaf Scholz sworn in as Germany’s new chancellor

BERLIN (AA) - Olaf Scholz was sworn in as Germany’s new chancellor on Wednesday, ending Angela Merkel’s historic 16-year tenure.

Scholz, whose Social Democrat got the most votes in the country’s Sept. 26 general elections, was officially elected chancellor by parliament with the votes of his party along with its new coalition partners, the Greens and the Free Democrats.

The 63-year-old career politician got 395 of the 707 valid parliamentary votes, more than the 369 votes he needed to take office.

The coalition members Social Democratic Party (SPD), Greens, and Free Democrats (FDP) have a total of 416 seats in the Bundestag (parliament).

The Social Democrats narrowly won the Sept. 26 elections over Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, and managed to hammer out a coalition deal with the two smaller parties after months of negotiations.

Germany's long-serving chancellor, Angela Merkel, did not run in the election, and she is quitting active politics after leaving office.

Merkel, Germany’s first woman chancellor, served the second-longest term in the office this century, after Helmut Kohl, who served 11 days longer than she did.