Germans vote as Merkel bids for her fourth term
BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel was widely expected to win a fourth term in office as Germans went to the polls on Sunday in an election that is also likely to see the farthest rightwing party in 60 years, the antimigrant Alternative for Germany, win seats in Parliament.
Merkel campaigned on her record as chancellor for 12 years, emphasising the country’s record-low unemployment, strong economic growth, balanced budget and growing international importance.
That’s helped keep her conservative bloc well atop the polls ahead of the election over the centre-left Social Democrats of challenger Martin Schulz.
Schulz voted together with his wife Inge in the city hall of his hometown of Wuerselen in western Germany. “I hope that as many people as possible will cast their vote and strengthen the democratic future of Germany,” Schulz told reporters.
Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Party and its sister party, the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union, have governed the country for the last four years with the Social Democrats in a so-called “grand coalition.” Most forecasts suggest that coalition will win another majority in today’s election outcome, but several different coalition government combinations are possible.
Pollsters said earlier in the week that many of the 61.5 million who were eligible to vote had remained undecided until the very last moment.
The latest polls had Merkel’s conservative bloc at 34-37% support, the centre-left Social Democrats with 21-22% and the antimigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, with 10-13% support.
Countries across Europe have seen a rise of anti-migrant and populist parties in recent elections and several German pollsters have forecast that the antimigrant, anti-Europe AfD, which appears assured of gaining seats in the national parliament for the first time, may come in as third-strongest party.
In addition to the AfD, the Greens, the Free Democratic Party and the Left Party were all poised to enter parliament with poll numbers between 8-11%.