Merkel’s conservatives secure second term
Merkel, a conservative, was seeking a second four-year term in yesterday’s parliamentary election. She also wanted to end her “grand coalition” with the centre-left Social Democrats of challenger Frank-Walter Steinmeier and form a new government with the centre-right Free Democrats.
An ARD television exit poll put support for Merkel’s Christian Democrats at 33.5% and 22.5 for theSocial Democrats. It has the Free Democrats at 15%, the Left Party at 12.5% and the Greens at 10.5%.
ARD says the conservatives and Free Democrats should have a majority in parliament.
Claiming victory, a beaming Merkel told supporters: “We have achieved something great. We have managed to achieve our election aim of a stable majority in Germany for a new government.”
She still made clear she wants to maintain her consensual approach, saying: “I want to be the chancellor of all Germans.”
Security was tight across the country for voting, following a rash of threats by Islamic extremists who threatened retaliation if Germany does not pull its 4,200 troops out of the Nato mission in Afghanistan.
Both Merkel and her main challenger, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democrats, ignored the Islamic threats in their final rallies on Saturday, focusing instead on the key domestic issues of jobs and economic recovery.
Yesterday, both party leaders voted at their local polling stations in Berlin, accompanied by their spouses. Steinmeier later conceded defeat.
“There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat,” he said.
Projections show that Steinmeier’s party – which has been in government for the past 11 years – was headed for its worst parliamentary election result since the Second World War, with well under 25% of the vote.
Steinmeier has served under Merkel as foreign minister in Germany’s outgoing “grand coalition” government.
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