22nd Oct 2013 06:07
BERLIN (Alliance News) - The German Parliament meets Tuesday for the first time since last month's general election.
The meeting of the 631-strong Bundestag comes a day before Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to lead the first round of negotiations with the main opposition Social Democrats to forge a new coalition government.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats and its Bavarian-based associate party, the Christian Social Union, emerged as the biggest bloc in the election with 311 seats in parliament.
But she needs a new coalition partner after falling short by a handful of seats to gain an absolute majority at the election held more than four weeks ago.
The main task of the lawmakers will be to elect the parliament's new office bearers, including the chamber's president.
The new parliament includes its first ever black member, Senegalese-born Karamba Diaby and well-known wrestler Matthias Ilgen.
Its younger member is 26-year-old Mahmut Ozdemir and the oldest is Heinz Riesenhuber, who was born in 1935.
Copyright dpa