German Chancellor Angela Merkel has defended the “painful” concessions she made to the Social Democrats (SPD) including handing her rivals the powerful finance ministry in order to form a coalition, much to the displeasure of many within her own party. However, during a Sunday interview on German TV station ZDF, the chancellor also stressed she understood their disappointment but insisted it was “acceptable” from her point of view and that the finance minister would not be able to simply “do as he likes.”