Germany’s Merkel gains one seat

DRESDEN, GERMANY—

Conservative challenger Angela Merkel’s party won a boost yesterday in her quest to become Germany’s first female chancellor by gaining a seat in the last remaining district in parliamentary voting. With all 260 electoral districts reporting, Andreas Laemmel, from Merkel’s Christian Democrats, won the contest for a seat in Dresden with 37 per cent of the vote. Marlies Volkmer, from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder’s Social Democratic party, had 32.1 per cent. A third candidate in Dresden, Katja Kipping of the Left party, made up largely of former East German Communists, trailed with 19.3 per cent. The result increased the narrow edge held in parliament by Merkel’s party and its sister party, Bavaria- only Christian Social Union, from three seats to four — 226 to 222 over the Social Democrats in the 614- seat lower house. The pro- business Free Democrats have 61 seats, the Left party 54, and the environmental Greens 51. The election in Dresden was delayed because a candidate died a few days before Sept. 18, when the rest of Germany voted. The strength of an extra seat in parliament is expected to give the conservatives a psychological advantage heading into coalition talks, which have been stalled because both Merkel and Schroeder claim a mandate to be chancellor.

Their parties have had to consider forming a government together because neither won a majority with their preferred coalition partners, in Merkel’s case the Free Democrats and in Schroeder’s the Greens.