BERLIN, Nov. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder resigned Wednesday from the parliament, one day after he transferred power to his successor Angela Merkel.

    Schroeder, 61, signed the resignation in the office of the speaker of parliament, Norbert Lammert. Clemens Bollen, a Social Democrat, will move into the Bundestag after Schroeder relinquished his seat.

    Schroeder was first elected to the Bundestag in 1980 and became governor in Lower Saxony a decade later. He defeated conservative chancellor Helmut Kohl and went into office in 1998.

    On Tuesday, Merkel was sworn in as the head of the grand coalition government formed by Merkel's Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats. Enditem