Christian Democrats Win German Vote, ‘But AfD Second’

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU/CSU), led by Friedrich Merz, has won the German Federal Election, known for its anti-migration stance and considered right-wing, emerged as the second-largest faction, exit polls showed Sunday.

If confirmed as expected, the outcome would put Merz, 69, on the path to becoming the next chancellor of Europe’s largest economy.

Yet it marked a significant shift to the right in German politics as the AfD became the nation’s second-largest political force, despite concerns about past neo-Nazi tendencies within its ranks.

The conservative Merz, who rules out forming a coalition government with the AfD, will need to ally with at least one party, most likely outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats.

Scholz’s ruling “traffic light coalition” of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP), and Alliance 90/The Greens, named after the parties’ traditional colors, red, yellow, and green, collapsed last year over a budget deficit.

Merz promised “to fix” most problems in four years, including massive migration, economic difficulties, and a car industry struggling to catch up with China‘s electric vehicles flooding the European markets.

Yet, with a strong AfD and economic headwind, it was unclear whether he could realize his ambitious political agenda.

ISLAMIC VIOLENCE

Sunday’s voting came in a nation still in shock after several attacks linked to Islamic migrants, including a stabbing near the Holocaust Museum in Berlin, which injured a 30-year-old Spanish tourist on Friday.

Amid mounting public anger over these and other attacks, many voters turns their back to the established parties, the outcome suggested.

The AfD will almost double from over 10 to nearly 20 percent, its most significant success ever, according to forecasts.

The Social Democrats likely achieved their worst result ever in the Bundestag, Germany parliament with a reported 16 percent of the vote. The CDU/CSU will reach 29 percent, exit polls showed.

The Greens and the far-left Die Linke were both clearly above the electoral threshold of 5 percent with 13.5 and 8.5 percent respectively.

However the liberal Free Democratic Party or FDP, which left Scholz’s government at the end of last year, may not return as it received just 4.9 percent of the votes, according to forecasts.

The new party, BSW, a split from Die Linke, would remain just below the 4.7 percent threshold.

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