Germany announced its new coalition government, heralding the end of Angela Merkel’s 16 years as chancellor

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s successor has been announced, as Germany nears a future without its leader of 16 years.

The country’s next government announced on Wednesday that Olaf Scholz, Germany’s finance minister and vice chancellor, will take over from Merkel as chancellor.

Scholz said he expects the government to approve the deal that would make him chancellor within the next 10 days, the Associated Press reported. The government has been planning to make the change on the week of December 6, Süddeutsche reported.

The politicians also announced a new coalition government between the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party, and the Free Democratic Party. The three parties had been negotiating for the past two months, trying to agree a coalition deal so Merkel could be replaced after the September general election. Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union, is set to be the opposition party.