Closely fought German election ushers in post-Merkel era

Election campaign billboards of candidates for chancellery Annalena Baerbock, Olaf Scholz and Armin Laschet displayed in central Berlin (Markus Schreiber/AP)

German voters are choosing a new parliament in an election that will determine who succeeds Chancellor Angela Merkel after her 16 years at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy.

Polls point to a very close race on Sunday between Mrs Merkel’s centre-right Union bloc, with state governor Armin Laschet running for chancellor, and the centre-left Social Democrats, for whom outgoing finance minister and vice chancellor Olaf Scholz is seeking the top job.