Germany’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) have won the federal election over outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party.
SPD leader Olaf Scholz said he had a clear mandate to form a government, while his conservative rival Armin Laschet remains determined to fight on.
The two parties have governed together for years.
However, Olaf Scholz says it is time for a new coalition with the Greens and liberals.
Preliminary results gave SPD a narrow election win over the conservatives who suffered their worst-ever performance.
The Greens and pro-business FDP attracted the most support from the under-30s, in an election dominated by climate change and by differing proposals on how to tackle it. The Greens made history with almost 15% of the vote, even though it was well short of their ambitions.
It was the tightest race in years, bringing an end to the post-war domination of the two big parties – Olaf Scholz’s SPD and his rival’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Exit polls predicted a dead heat, but this election was unpredictable from the start, and the result was never going to be the end of the story. For one thing, the outgoing chancellor is going nowhere until the coalition is formed – and that may have to wait until Christmas.
The main parties want a new government in place by the time Germany takes over the leadership of the G7 group of nations in January.
The next chancellor’s task is to lead Europe’s foremost economy over the next four years, with climate change at the top of voters’ agenda.
Olaf Scholz’s SPD supporters greeted him in raptures, but it was only later when his party edged into the lead that he told a TV audience the voters had given him the job of forming a “good, pragmatic government for Germany”.
His conservative rival has dug in, arguing it was about forging a coalition, not about getting “an arithmetic majority”. Winner doesn’t take all, in other words.
CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak did not gloss over the defeat but said that was not the point: “In the end the question is going to be can you create a genuine project for the future?”
“Two maybe-chancellors and two kingmakers” – was one of the headlines summing up Sunday night’s rather scrappy result, but that is what it looked like.
Because it’s not just the Social Democrat and conservative leaders fighting for power. The two kingmakers are open to offers and planning to talk to each other to explore common ground.
Together the liberals and the Greens make up over quarter of the vote and would carry both of the big parties over the line.
They may be more popular with younger voters than any other parties, but it would take some skill to bring them under the same roof.
On September 27, a Greens spokesman said it was no big secret that they were not close to the liberals.
Greens leader Annalena Baerbock wants to loosen Germany’s debt brake that stops a big jump in public debt. FDP leader Christian Lindner has little time for her party’s “ideas of tax hikes, or softening the debt brake”.
So of all the possible coalitions, the Greens and the liberals feature in the two that are most likely to form.
One is the so-called traffic-light coalition, made up of the parties’ colors – red (SPD), yellow (FDP) and the Greens – or there’s the Jamaica alternative, black (CDU), yellow (FDP) and the Greens.
It is the first time that Germany is facing a three-way coalition, but this country has entered a new political era and the talking is yet to begin.
Beyond the four mainstream parties, it was a bad night for the radical left and a patchy night for the far right.
Left-wing Die Linke fell below the 5% threshold required to get into parliament but survived because it secured three direct mandates.
Although the far-right AfD’s share of the vote appears to have slipped nationally, it’s set be the largest party in the eastern states of Saxony and Thuringia.
Angela Merkel has admitted migrant policy mistakes are linked to her CDU party’s defeat in Berlin state elections.
The German Chancellor voiced regret over mistakes that contributed to last summer’s refugee crisis in Germany. More than a million migrants reached Germany – a record.
“If I could, I would turn back time for many, many years, to prepare better,” Angela Merkel told reporters.
The center-right CDU can no longer run Berlin with the Social Democrats (SPD).
Angela Merkel’s party won 17.6% of the vote – its worst-ever result in Berlin.
The chancellor conceded that her open-door policy towards refugees – embodied in her phrase “wir schaffen das” (we can manage it) – was a factor in the election. She has now distanced herself from that phrase, calling it “a sort of simplified motto”.
Angela Merkel has been widely criticized in Germany for the policy, which was a humanitarian gesture faced with the desperate plight of migrants, many of them refugees from the war in Syria.
The right-wing, anti-migrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) will enter the Berlin state parliament for the first time with 14% of the vote.
The AfD is now represented in 10 of Germany’s 16 regional parliaments. Earlier this month it pushed the CDU into third place in the northern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Looking back at the migrant crisis, Angela Merkel defended her policy as “absolutely correct on balance, but ultimately it meant that for a long time we did not have enough control”.
“Nobody wants a repeat of that situation – including me.”
Angela Merkel said she needed to work harder to explain her refugee policies.
The SPD emerged as the strongest party with about 22%, in spite of losing almost 7% of its voters, and said it would hold talks on forming a coalition with all parties except AfD. It is expected to drop the CDU as a coalition partner in favor of the left-wing Die Linke and the Greens.
September 18 election in Berlin, a city-state of 3.5 million people, was dominated by local issues including poor public services, crumbling school buildings, late trains and a housing shortage, as well as problems in coping with the migrant influx.
AfD co-chairman Joerg Meuthen said the party was strongly positioned for 2017 national elections and colleague Beatrix von Storch predicted that it would become the third largest political force in Germany next year.
“We’re witnessing in 2017 Angela Merkel’s battle for survival,” Beatrix von Storch said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU has suffered historic losses in Berlin state elections.
The CDU has been ousted from the state governing coalition with the center-left Social Democrats.
Meanwhile the right-wing anti-migrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) made gains and will enter the state parliament for the first time.
Angela Merkel’s popularity has waned since her 2015 decision to allow more than a million refugees into Germany.
The CDU won 17.6% of the vote – its worst-ever result in Berlin.
It is the party’s second electoral blow in two weeks, having been pushed into third place by the AfD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania at the beginning of the month.
The Social Democrat Party (SPD) has emerged as the strongest party with about 22%, in spite of losing almost 7% of their voters.
The strong showing of the AfD, 14%, has prompted its co-chairman Joerg Meuthen to say the party was strongly positioned for 2017 national elections.
The AfD is now set to be represented in 10 out of 16 state parliaments.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling CDU party has been beaten into third place by anti-immigrant and anti-Islam the Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) in regional elections in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, partial results have shown.
The AfD party took about 21% of the vote behind the centre-left SPD’s 30%.
Angela Merkel’s CDU was backed by only about 19% of those who voted, according to the partial results.
Today’s vote was seen as a key test before German parliamentary elections in 2017.
Before it, all of Germany’s other parties ruled out forming a governing coalition with the AfD.
However, the AfD’s strong showing could weaken Angela Merkel ahead of the national elections next year.
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in the former East Germany, is where the chancellor’s own constituency is located.
Under Angela Merkel’s leadership, Germany has been taking in large numbers of refugees and migrants – 1.1 million in 2015 – and anti-immigrant feeling has increased.
The AfD, initially an anti-euro party, has enjoyed a rapid rise as the party of choice for voters dismayed by Angela Merkel’s policy.
However, its political power is limited and critics accuse it of engaging in xenophobic scaremongering.
The CDU has been the junior coalition partner in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania since 2006 and is likely to remain in the governing coalition. However, its 19% in the election is its worst ever result in the state, German broadcasters said.
Addressing supporters, local AfD leader Leif-Erik Holm said: “Perhaps this is the beginning of the end of Angela Merkel’s chancellorship today.”
Voters in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania are going to the polls in a vote seen as a test of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s policies towards migrants and refugees.
The anti-migrant and anti-Islam Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) could get more votes than Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU).
This would weaken Angela Merkel ahead of national elections in 2017.
However, all Germany’s other parties have ruled out forming a governing coalition with the AfD.
So the AfD stands no chance of forming a government in the state.
However, the party has seen huge gains in various regional elections over the last year.
Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, in the former East Germany, is where Angela Merkel’s own constituency is located.
Polls show Merkel’s CDU polling behind the AfD, and the chancellor told voters in the state: “It’s going to be a tight race – every vote counts.”
One voting intentions poll showed the centre-left Social Democrats first with 28%, while the AfD edged ahead of the CDU with 23% to 20%.
The AfD is believed to be attracting voters away from the center-right CDU.
Germany is taking in large numbers of refugees – 1.1 million in 2015 – and anti-immigrant feeling has increased.
The AfD, initially an anti-euro party, has become the outlet of choice for voters frustrated by the chancellor’s policy of welcoming migrants.
The party’s slogan nationwide is: “Let’s end asylum chaos.”
On September 3, Angela Merkel told Bild newspaper: “We did not reduce benefits for anyone in Germany as a result of the aid for refugees. In fact, we actually saw social improvements in some areas.
“We took nothing away from people here. We are still achieving our big goal of maintaining and improving the quality of life in Germany.”
Only 2% of refugees arriving in Germany have gone to live in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
Germany’s rival parties, CDU and SDP, are in their final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.
Polls suggest Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) will win the biggest share of the vote.
But her current coalition partners, the Free Democrats, may not pass the 5% threshold for winning seats in parliament.
If so, Angela Merkel may have to consider a coalition with her main rival Peer Steinbrueck’s Social Democrats (SDP).
Angela Merkel is holding a large rally in Stralsund and Peer Steinbrueck is due to appear at an event in Frankfurt.
Addressing a CDU rally in Hanover on Friday, Angela Merkel asked for votes to continue with her government’s policies into 2017.
“Please vote for the CDU on Sunday, so that we can continue our solid policy for you, for your children, for your families and friends,” she said.
“So that in four years we are able to say that people in 2017 are doing better than they did in 2013; more people have jobs; the euro is more stable, Europe is more stable and we have less debt. This is my goal, ladies and gentlemen, and therefore I ask you for your support.”
Peer Steinbrueck – whose opposition SDP party is trying to deny Angela Merkel a third term – rallied his supporters in the town of Kassel. Peer Steinbrueck has sharpened his attacks on his rival, accusing her of skirting the country’s big challenges.
He touched on the crisis in Syria, saying he did not want German involvement in any military action. But he said peacekeeping could not be ruled out.
“Germany will have to, within its alliances and under the conditions of a mandate, take part in peacekeeping and peace securing measures,” Peer Steinbrueck said.
The Green Party – who may play some part in an eventual governing coalition – held a rally in Berlin. The party’s parliamentary co-chair, Juergen Trittin, criticized Angela Merkel’s government.
“Two parties went into the election campaign saying: <<We will not increase taxes>>. Then they started their term with a 3% VAT increase. Then they ended it with the car trade-in rebate scheme that was environmental, industrial and transport policy madness,” he said.
Germany’s rival parties, CDU and SDP, are in their final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections
Angela Merkel’s current coalition partners, the Free Democrats, rallied for votes in Stuttgart.
The Free Democrats (FDP), whose best-known member is Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, has seen its fortunes decline sharply since the last election in 2009, when it won nearly 15% of the vote.
Analysts say the party, traditionally more liberal than the CDU/CSU, has struggled to stand out from its more powerful coalition partner on economic policy.
If the Free Democrats (FDP) do badly, as expected, the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) may find themselves looking to other small parties to form a broader, more fragile coalition.
According to an average of opinion polls tweeted by the London-based @electionista monitoring site, the CDU/CSU will get 38.6% of the vote to 25.8% for the SPD and 6.4% for the FDP.
Some analysts also see the possibility of a government led by Angela Merkel which includes the Social Democrats, whose leader served as finance minister under Merkel in a previous grand coalition.
Under another scenario, a new party largely formed from disaffected CDU members could get enough votes to be regarded as a different coalition partner. Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD), as it is known, is avowedly anti-euro and could prove a difficult partner.
In a letter sent to five million households, Angela Merkel, in power since 2005, promised voters they would be in safe hands if she stayed on as chancellor.
“We have achieved a lot together,” she wrote.
“I also want the next four years to be good.”
On Berlin’s famous Alexanderplatz Square on Thursday evening, Peer Steinbrueck likened Angela Merkel to a timid driver steering the country around in circles.
“She likes to drive around roundabouts,” he said.
“That way you don’t hit anything… You drive without accidents.
“But the moment you set a direction, the moment you don’t just administer this country but also decide its political direction, you also cause offence, you provoke. At least with me you know what you get, in contrast to the last four years.”
Dismissing opinion polls, Peer Steinbrueck said: “It’s not the pollsters, nor the wishful thinking of politicians… but you voters who decide.”
The election is one of the most important in years because of Germany’s dominant role in the eurozone.
With the biggest population of any EU state, Germany enjoys a GDP that far outstrips the economies of its partners and is crucial to decisions on tackling the eurozone’s debt crisis.
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