Christian Democrats led by Merz win Bundestag elections

The Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) bloc, led by Friedrich Merz, has won the early parliamentary elections in Germany with 28.5% of the vote.

According to the German Federal Election Commission, votes were counted in all 299 constituencies.

Thus, the Bloc of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Unions will form a new coalition that will be responsible for creating a new government. The next German government will be headed by the leader of the Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz.

Alternative for Germany came in second with 20.8% of the vote. This far-right and pro-Russian party received a strong boost from Elon Musk, the owner of the X social network, an American billionaire, during the election campaign.

The third position with 16.4% of the vote went to the Social Democratic Party of Germany under Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This percentage is a historic low for the German Social Democrats.

The Greens and the Left received 11.6% and 8.8% of the vote, respectively. To form a coalition, the Christian Democrats will have to negotiate with these parties.

There are differences between these political forces on many issues, including the economy, but they are united by their pro-European and democratic views, unlike the right-wing radicals and left-wing populists.

There is also the possibility of a broad coalition, the so-called traffic light coalition, which will include both conservatives and social democrats. However, it seems unlikely that any party will form an alliance with the right-wing AfD.

Other parties did not overcome the 5% threshold and did not enter the Bundestag. Sarah Wagenknecht’s left-wing populist BWS party, which is considered pro-Russian, failed. It lacked less than one percent to pass the threshold. Given the large-scale campaign, the outcome can be considered a failure.