Social Democratic Party has secured 26% votes against 24% of Merkel’s CDU party
Germany’s left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD) has won 26% votes in the country’s federal election, as per the preliminary results.
Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the centrist-right, conservative party secured 24.1% votes followed by Green Party with 14.8% of votes. The figures were shared by the Federal Returning Officer, responsible for overseeing Federal elections.
The data was shared after taking into account all the 299 German constituencies. The election ends Merkel’s 16-year stint as the Chancellor of Germany. However, her successor won’t be decided until a coalition deal is negotiated.
The SPD will now begin negotiations to form the new Government, a process that could take weeks or even months. After Merkel’s election win in September 2017, it took more than five months for a Government to be formed.
Though the SPD has a small lead over CDU but as compared to 2017, where it got 20.5% votes, the progress has been good. The 63 years old SPD’s head – Olaf Scholz has served as the Vice-Chancellor and Finance Minister of Germany, under Merkel’s regime.
Taking it to twitter, Olaf Scholz tweeted (translated from German), “Many citizens today have that
@spdde chosen because they want a move. You have decided that there should be more respect in our society again. Now we are waiting for the final result – and then we get to work!#btw21.” Original tweet in German:
Viele Bürger*innen haben heute die @spdde gewählt, weil sie einen Wechsel wollen. Sie haben sich dafür entschieden, dass wieder mehr Respekt in unserer Gesellschaft herrschen soll. Jetzt warten wir auf das endgültige Ergebnis – und dann machen wir uns an die Arbeit! #btw21
— Olaf Scholz (@OlafScholz) September 26, 2021
Earlier in the evening, the mood at CDU headquarters was downcast as the initial exit polls suggested that CDU, with its sister party, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, were looking at the worst result in the alliance’s history.
Speaking on the occasion, the Secretary-General of CDU – Paul Ziemiak said, “The question is, who can form a stable government, form a coalition for the future, for this country? We have many issues to tackle — climate protection, innovation — but we also have to ensure stability and social security, which I believe a coalition of the CDU/CSU, the Greens and the FDP could do well, and that is what we will be talking about over the next few days.”
The result also highlights that democracy in Germany is quite stable and there is no place for extremist parties, neither from left nor from right.
Going forward, Merkel’s Government would remain in office as acting Government until it is replaced by a new government. Merkel, 67, will then stand down and the new chancellor will take the reins.
