Merkel wins fourth term but nationalists surge

BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc won a lacklustre victory in Germany’s national election Sunday while the anti-migrant, nationalist Alternative for Germany party managed a triumphant entry into parliament.

Merkel’s main centre-left rivals, the Social Democrats, slid to their worst result since the Second World War, projections showed. The party, led by Merkel’s challenger Martin Schulz, vowed immediately to leave her coalition government and go into opposition. “There cannot be a far-right party leading the opposition in Germany.”

The outcome puts Merkel on course for a fourth term as chancellor — but means that she likely faces the tricky task of forming a new coalition government with two new partners. “I have the intention of achieving a stable government in Germany, and that has been a hallmark” of the country, she said.

Projections for ARD and ZDF public television, based on exit polls and partial counting, showed Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union and their Bavariaonly allies, the Christian Social Union, winning 33 per cent of the vote — down from 41.5 per cent four years ago. It was one of their weakest postwar showings.

Schulz’s Social Democrats were trailing far behind, with just under 21 per cent support. That would be the outright worst postwar for the party, which has served since 2013 as the junior partner in a “grand coalition” of Germany’s biggest parties under Merkel.

“Of course, we would have preferred a better result, that is completely clear,” Merkel said. “But we mustn’t forget that we have had an extremely challenging parliamentary term behind us.

“We have a mandate to form a new government, and no government can be formed against us,” Merkel added.

“We want to win back AfD voters by solving problems, by taking account of their concerns and fears, and above all with good policies,” Merkel added.

Smaller parties were the chief beneficiaries of the erosion in support for Germany’s traditionally dominant parties — above all the right-wing Alternative for Germany, or AfD, whose support was just over 13 per cent. AfD capitalized on discontent with established politicians but particularly targeted those angry over the influx of more than one million mostly Muslim migrants into Germany in the past two years under Merkel.

AfD co-leader Alexander Gauland vowed that “we will take our country back” and promised to “chase” Merkel.

Big cheers went up at AfD’s election party after exit polls showed them finishing in third place. Some supporters chanted “AfD! AfD!” and others started singing the German national anthem.

Outsides, hundreds of anti-AfD protesters shouted “all Berlin hates the AfD,” “Nazi pigs,” and other slogans, while protesters threw bottles as police kept them away from the building.

Another big winner Sunday was the pro-business Free Democratic Party, which was set to return to parliament with some 10.5 per cent of the vote. The party was Merkel’s coalition partner in her second term from 2009-2013, but lost all its seats at the last election.

The traditionally left-leaning Greens were seen winning around nine per cent of the vote and the Left Party also nine per cent, meaning both stay in parliament.

If the Social Democrats stick to their pledge, Merkel will effectively have only one option to form her new government: teaming up with the Free Democrats and the Greens in an alliance that has never yet been tried in a national German government.