Projections showed that Germany’s conservative leader of opposition Friedrich Merz had a meager victory in Sunday’s national elections, while Alternative for Germany saw its support double, according to projections.
Olaf Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany, conceded defeat on behalf of his Social Democrats center-left after what he described as “a bitter result.” ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.
Merz has said that he hopes a coalition will be formed by Easter. This is likely to be a challenge.
Scholz’s unpopular coalition broke up in November. Three years into Scholz’s term, the infighting was becoming more and more pronounced. The election was marred by widespread discontent, and there wasn’t much enthusiasm among the candidates.
Merz’s recent push for a more aggressive approach caused friction. The campaign took place in a backdrop of increasing uncertainty about the future of Ukraine, and Europe’s alliance to the United States.
Germany is the largest country in the European Union of 27 nations and a major member of NATO. After the U.S., Germany was Ukraine’s second-largest weapons supplier. It will play a key role in shaping how the continent responds to the challenges that lie ahead, such as the Trump administration’s trade and foreign policy.
Based on partial counting and exit polls, the projections place Merz’s Union block at around 28,5%, and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) at about 20,5% — almost double their result in 2021.
They put support for Scholz’s Social Democrats at just over 16%, far lower than in the last election and below their previous postwar low of 20.5% from 2017. The environmentalist Greens, their remaining partners in the outgoing government, were on about 12%.
After a stunning comeback, the hard-left Left Party, which was the third smaller party, strengthened its position by winning up to 9 percent of the votes. With a vote share of 4.5%, the pro-business Free Democrats who formed the third part of the collapsed coalition looked like they would lose their seats in Parliament. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) was hovering just below the 5% threshold required to gain seats.
The BSW’s entry into the parliament will determine whether Merz has a majority and can form a coalition government with Scholz. If not, he will need to find a second partner. This would be the Greens. The conservative leader stated, “The main thing is to quickly reestablish an effective government in Germany.”
Merz stated, “I understand my responsibility.” “I also realize the magnitude of the challenge that lies before us.” I will approach this with respect and know it won’t be easy.
He told his cheering fans that the world was not waiting for them, nor lengthy coalition talks or negotiations.
Robert Habeck (Vice-Chancellor of the Greens) said Merz should moderate his tone following a long campaign.
Habeck said, “We’ve seen that the center has been weakened in general. Everyone should examine themselves to see if they haven’t contributed to this.” “Now, he has to act like a chancellor.”
Scholz’s unpopular government was the least popular of all parties. Matthias Miersch suggested that the Social Democrats’ defeat was not surprising. Miersch stated that the election was not lost in the past eight weeks.
Tino Chrupalla, co-leader of the AfD, told supporters cheering: “We have achieved historic things today.”
He said, “We have now become the center of the political spectrum and left the edges behind us.” The highest previous result for the party was 12,6% in 2017, which was when it entered the national legislature.
Alice Weidel said that the party is “open to coalition negotiations” with Merz and “otherwise no change in policy is possible in Germany.” Merz, along with other mainstream parties, has consistently ruled out working together with AfD. This was reiterated in a post-election televised exchange between Weidel and the other leaders.
Weidel said AfD would not have to make many compromises to achieve a theoretical alliance, arguing the Union had largely copied their program and ridiculed its “Pyrrhic Victory.”
She said, “It will not be able to implement it with the left-wing party.” If Merz allies with Social Democrats and Greens “it will be an unstable government that won’t last for four years. There will be Chancellor Friedrich Merz as an interim and we will take over the Union in the next years.”
Merz disputed the notion that voters wanted to form a coalition with AfD. He said, “We have fundamentally differing views on many issues, such as foreign policy, security policy and in other areas, including Europe, the Euro, NATO.”
Merz continued, “You want to do the opposite of what you want. There will be no collaboration.”
Scholz decried AfD’s success. He said: “That is something we can never accept.” “I will never accept this.”
The 630 members who will sit under the glass dome in Berlin’s Reichstag Building, which is the lower house, were elected by more than 59 million people.