VOTING UNDER WAY IN GERMANY AS RIGHT-WING CDU LEADS RACE

Sun 23 February 2025:

Germans head to the polls Sunday in a nationwide election to select a new parliament and government — a landmark vote that could reshape the country’s political landscape.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0700GMT) at nearly 90,000 locations across the country and will close at 6 p.m. (1700GMT).

More than 59 million German citizens are eligible to vote in the elections, including 2.3 million first-time voters, according to official data. The electorate leans heavily on the older side, with 42% of voters aged 60 or above, compared to just 13% under 30.

Over 7 million eligible voters have immigrant backgrounds, including more than 1 million German citizens of Turkish origin.

While some Germans have already submitted their mail-in ballots, thousands of citizens living abroad have reported on social media that their postal voting documents have not arrived in time.

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How did the 2025 German elections come about?

The German governing coalition was initially shaken when Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD party fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner in November.

Lindner’s pro-business FDP then quit the coalition government, which consisted of the SPD, FDP and the Green Party, robbing Scholz of a majority in parliament. The rift between Scholz and Lindner arose from a row over the budget and the economic direction of the country.

In December, Scholz lost a vote of confidence called amid pressure from centre-right and right-wing opposition parties, triggering new elections.

Scholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 members voted against him and 116 abstained. That left him far short of the majority of 367 needed to win.

Who are the candidates running for chancellor?

Olaf Scholz, 66, from the SPD, has been the chancellor of Germany since December 2021.

Friedrich Merz, 69, is running the opposition campaign and has been a frontrunner. He became the CDU leader after Angela Merkel stepped down as chancellor in 2021.

Robert Habeck, 55, is the candidate representing the Greens. He is the current vice chancellor, as well as holding the portfolios of economy and climate.

Alice Weidel, 46, is representing the anti-immigration AfD.

Disillusioned German voters turn to AfD amid political dissatisfaction

The 12-year-old far-right AfD party is expected to score its best result as Europe’s ailing economic powerhouse lurches rightwards.

“I’m completely disappointed in politics, so maybe an alternative would be better,” retired Berlin bookkeeper Ludmila Ballhorn, 76, who plans to vote AfD, told Reuters.

Ballhorn said she was struggling to live on her pension of 800 euros. “Rents and all other costs have soared.”

Some voters voice desire for political shift to the right

Up to 30 percent of voters remained undecided last week, among them Sylvia Otto, 66, who said she still finds it “difficult to make a decision this time”.

Speaking to AFP in Berlin, she said she wanted “a change – but now a change to the right”.

“That’s very important to me,” she said.

What explains the growing popularity of the far-right AfD

The far-right AfD has been growing in popularity over the past decades, first achieving seats in parliament in the 2017 elections with 13 percent of the vote.

This year, the party is polling at around 20 percent, second place overall behind the conservative CDU, driving fears that it has become a major force in German politics. The party has even named party leader Alice Weidel as its first-ever chancellor nominee, showing its confidence going into the elections.

Its high poll numbers don’t, however, mean that it will be included in the eventual coalition government formed after the vote. Chancellor Scholz and election frontrunner Merz promised no collaboration with the extreme right earlier this month in speeches to parliament.

There is concern however that by not including the AfD, it will be in a very strong position by the next election, possibly winning a majority of the vote.

This fear of voters turning to the AfD has contributed to the issue of migration becoming such a dominant theme during this election campaign, as being tough on migration is seen as a vote winner.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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