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Scholz’s SPD wins German elections as conservatives drop to record low in 1st election without Merkel – preliminary results

By:   ['Russia Today']

Date: 2021-09

Preliminary results of the German election show a victory for Social Democrats that edged out outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU union by little more than 1 percent. All eyes are now on coalition talks.

After running a neck-and-neck race with the center-right CDU/CSU union, led by Merkel’s successor, Christian Democrat Armin Laschet, Olaf Scholz's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) pulled ahead, receiving 25.7 percent of the vote, Germany’s electoral management body reported on Monday morning.

CDU/CSU secured 24.1 percent of the vote in a historic low for the union in the federal elections. The Greens, on the contrary, have gained ground from the 2017 elections, getting 14.8 percent of the vote, while anti-establishment Alternative for Germany (AfD) got 10.3%. A potential ‘kingmaker’ in the race, the classic liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), ended up with 11.5%. The Left Party (Die Linke) came up nearly 5% short of its previous result, receiving 4.9%.

Even before the preliminary results were announced, Secretary-General of the SPD Lars Klingbeil had predicted a victory for his party, telling the media on Sunday, “We have the mandate to form a government,” in which “Olaf Scholz will become chancellor.”

The Greens also congratulated the SPD, with the party’s secretary-general, Michael Kellner, saying he is open to negotiating with all democratic parties to build the nation’s next political coalition.

Paul Ziemiak, secretary general of the CDU, has been less willing to accept an SPD victory, however, telling broadcaster ARD that it’s going to be a “long election night” and a coalition between the CDU, the Greens, and the FDP could still be on the cards.

“A coalition of the CDU, FDP and Greens would be a real future coalition – for modernization, sustainability and stability,” Ziemiak posted to Twitter.

CDU’s Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet addressed party members on election night and admitted they were not satisfied with the results, but promised the CDU would do everything it could to lead a three-party coalition, which he said would be a big challenge for the nation.

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The Game of Coalitions

Although the SPD narrowly edged out the union, the fight to claim the lead in a coalition could take months to resolve, especially with both the CDU and SPD claiming that it is they who’ll be heading it up.

The coalition scenarios floated by experts include the so-called ‘traffic-light’ coalition – referring to the colors representing the three parties – which would be made up of the SPD, the FDP, and the Greens, cutting out the more conservative CDU. It would be led by SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, and the Greens are already viewed as likely to form a partnership with the Social Democrats.

The ‘Jamaica’ scenario is also possible – made up of the CDU, the Greens, and the FDP, it would cut out the SPD and uphold the CDU’s promise that it would remain the leader of the nation’s next coalition.

The third scenario, the ‘Grand Coalition’ – a partnership between the CDU and the SPD (and possibly the Greens) is the least likely, as the Social Democrats have already worked in a junior coalition capacity during the years Angela Merkel has been in charge.

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Germans went to the polls on Sunday to decide on the makeup of the Bundestag, the lower house of the country’s parliament.

The results will determine who replaces the CDU’s Angela Merkel as chancellor. Germany’s second-longest-serving leader in the modern era, she has governed the country since 2005. She presided over the eurozone crisis, the influx of migrants from the Middle East and Africa, and the rise of extremism and terrorism in Europe.

Merkel’s eventual successor and their new government will be tasked with steering the country’s economy towards recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic and the devastating floods in Germany this summer.

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