CDU/CSU bloc leads German election
(VOVWORLD) -The opposition the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc won the German federal election, putting conservative leader Friedrich Merz in the race to become the next chancellor of Europe's largest economy, according to poll results Sunday evening.
 Friedrich Merz, German chancellor candidate of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc, speaks in Neubrandenburg, February 12, 2025. Photo: Reuters/VNA |
Preliminary results announced by German public television channel ZDF and ARD at the time polling stations closed showed that with 29% of the vote, the CDU/CSU bloc came first in the snap election, which took place seven months earlier than planned.
The far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won 19.6% of votes, followed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz with 16% of votes. The Green Party ranked fourth with 13.3% and the left-wing Linke party won 8.6%. The far-left Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Sahra Wagenknecht Union (BSW) won 4.9% and 4.8% of the votes, respectively, hovering around the 5% threshold needed to win seats.
The result paves the way for lengthy coalition negotiations and potentially a three-party coalition consisting of the CDU/CSU with one or two of the three parties that formed the coalition government (SPD, Greens, and FDP) that collapsed last November.