Members of German coalition's small partner support continuation of ruling government

BERLIN

Members of the smallest partner of Germany's Social Democrat Party (SPD)-led government on Monday formally supported continuation of the ruling coalition, giving the country a green light for stable rule.

According to results of the intra-party vote, reported by the state-run DPA news agency, 52.24% of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) members said yes to staying in the government as 47.7% opposed it.

Yet only 26,058 of the party's nearly 72,000 members participated in the non-binding vote, which took place amid discontent among some party voters over disappointing election results last October in Hesse and Bavaria.