Merkel heads to 4th term, but far-right gains foothold
BERLIN — Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc won a lackluster 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 center-left rivals, the Social Democrats, slid to their worst result since World War II, projections showed. The party, led by Merkel’s challenger Martin Schulz, vowed to leave her coalition government and go into opposition.
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. Merkel acknowledged that it would take time, but said that “we live in stormy times” and other parties should show responsibility.
“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 Bavaria-only allies, the Christian Social Union, winning around 33 percent of the vote — down from 41.5 percent four years ago. It was one of their weakest postwar showings.
Schulz’s Social Democrats were trailing far behind, with just under 21 percent support. That would be the worst postwar result for the party, which has served since 2013 as the junior partner in a “grand coalition” of Germany’s biggest parties under Merkel.
Merkel was greeted at her party’s headquarters by supporters applauding and chanting “Angie!”
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 percent.
AfD capitalized on discontent with established politicians but particularly targeted those angry over the influx of more than 1 million mostly Muslim migrants into Germany in the past two years under Merkel.
Another big winner Sunday was the pro-business Free Democratic Party, which was set to return to parliament with some 10.5 percent of the vote.