Merkel Expected to be Elected Chancellor November 22

Leaders from the two parties, which are in talks to form a left-right "grand coalition" government, agreed to the date late Monday, officials close to the negotiations said. Though the two parties previously agreed Merkel would lead the government as Germany's next chancellor, the Bundestag must formally elect her after a coalition agreement has been finalized.

Merkel triumphed in a power struggle against Schröder this month after weeks of political limbo in which both claimed they had won a mandate to lead the government due to the knife-edge result of the Sept. 18 poll.

She will become the country's first woman chancellor and the first leader of the united country from the former communist east. If the negotiations succeed, she will serve at the helm of the first grand coalition government since the late 1960s. Traditionally, one of the major parties forms an alliance with a smaller kingmaker party.