German voters have chosen a new direction in a crucial federal election which will reshape the country’s political landscape.
The exit polls show that the opposition party to the opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic Syndicate party of the Merz Democrat Union leading the votes with the extreme right Alternative for Germany gone to the strongest projection of the extreme right since the Second World War.
Merz was quick to win, saying he was aware of the size of the task he faces and said that “it will not be easy”.
Markus Schreiber / AP
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose three -part coalition collapsed in November, conceded the defeat.
The exit polls for the social democrats of the Center-Gauche de l’Ard and the ZDF, the ZDF public program, are on the track for their worst post-war result during a national parliamentary election and should be in third place.
The polls, published just after the closing of the last polling stations, supported the Union de Merz block at 28.5 to 29% and an alternative for Germany, or AFD, at 19.5 at 20% – roughly double its result from 2021.
They supported the Scholz social democrats at 16-16.5%, much lower than that of the last elections. Ecologists’ greens were 13.5%.
Alex Kraus / Bloomberg via Getty Images
On three small parties, one – the party from left to left – seemed certain to win seats in Parliament with 8.5 to 9% of the votes. Two other parties, the Democrats without business and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, were around the threshold of support of 5% necessary to win seats.
That Merz, who is the favorite to become the next German Chancellor, will need one or two partners to form a coalition government will depend on the number of parties in Parliament.
“I am aware of responsibility,” said Merz. “I am also aware of the magnitude of the task that awaits us now. I approach it with the greatest respect, and I know that it will not be easy. »»
“The world there does not expect us, and it does not expect long-term discussion and coalition negotiations,” he told supporters.
It is unlikely that every party does not collect from the pure and simple majority of seats in Parliament, or Bundestag, in this election which would be required by the German electoral system to form a full government.
Instead, the parties must negotiate alliances to form a government, the party which takes the most seats generally putting its leader as Chancellor. Coalition governments often require compromise between parties with significantly different political priorities, making governance a negotiation process.
Despite their swollen popularity, all the traditional German parties, including the Merz CDU, have categorically excluded to form a coalition with AFD – that President Trump’s adviser Elon Musk supported In the elections – citing the party Links to extreme right extreme. This exclusion means that it is practically certain that AFD will not be part of the next government.