Mon 27 September 2021:
According to early results, Germany’s center-left Social Democrats narrowly defeated outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party in federal elections.
Olaf Scholz, the SPD leader, claims to have a clear mandate to form a government, but his conservative opponent, Armin Laschet, remains undeterred.
For years, the two parties have worked together to govern, but that is unlikely to continue.
The Greens and liberals, on the other hand, are vying for a place in a new coalition.
Germans went to the polls on Sunday to pick a new parliament and select who will succeed Merkel as the country’s next chancellor in a tight election.
Official preliminary results
Olaf Scholz’s SPD won the election by a narrow margin, gaining 25.7% of the vote and securing 206 seats in the federal parliament, according to the preliminary results announced by the federal election agency.
Conservative chancellor candidate Armin Laschet’s CDU/CSU came in second with 24.1% with 196 seats in the Bundestag. It was the worst election result of the Christian Democrats since 1949.
The Social Democrats have secured a narrow victory in the election but fell short of a parliamentary majority, signaling that the country is heading for a three-way coalition government for the first time since the 1960s.
Germany’s chancellor is elected indirectly, with voters choosing new parliament members who then determine the new chancellor with a vote among themselves.
Merkel is stepping down from active politics after 16 years in office, but she will remain in her position until a new government is established.
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