**German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been formally re-elected for a second term by MPs, as her coalition prepares to be sworn in.**The new coalition government is made up of Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat CDU/CSU and the Free Democrats (FDP).
It has already promised controversial tax cuts in an effort to boost growth and kick-start the economy.
But the idea of tax cuts has already been condemned by Germany’s opposition parties and some regional governors.
The BBC’s Steve Rosenberg in Berlin says the last time Mrs Merkel took the oath of office in 2005, she was in a weaker position.
She had been forced to share power with her centre left opponents in awkward grand coalition.
Preferred partners
However, our correspondent says this time around things look very different, and Mrs Merkel has developed “political muscle”.
She is popular and now able to govern now with her preferred coalition partner, the liberals, he says.
But while Mrs Merkel may be stronger, the Germany economy is far weaker now than it was four years ago, he says.
And the new coalition’s plans are controversial.
It wants to kick-start the economy by cutting taxes - despite the fact that Germany’s budget deficit is $2 trillion and rising.
It also plans to overhaul the health system and give more help to families.
President Horst Koehler is due to swear in the new coalition government at a ceremony at the Reichstag in Berlin.