The German Parliament was convened at its last regular meeting before the election.
Michael Kappeler | Picture Alliance | Getty Images
The Germans went to the polls Sunday to vote in the 2025 federal election, which almost guaranteed to lead the new prime minister to take over from Olaf Scholz to lead Europe’s largest economy.
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its member Christian Social Union (CSU) voted first in the election leadership, making their principal candidate Friedrich Merz the Prime Minister.
The far-right alternative Fordes chland (AFD) is expected to rank second, ahead of Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, which is also part of the latest ruling coalition that collapsed late last year.
This marks the 2021 When SPD stands out, then CDU/CSU. AFD ranked fourth at the time.
The Germans will vote in the polls two votes, one directly electing members of parliament to represent their constituencies and the other is a party list. The second vote will determine the proportion of the German parliament’s federal parliament, and the parties send their candidates to Berlin to secure representation.
The parties need to meet to deploy representatives to the federal government, and there is a 5% threshold. Several smaller parties, including the Left, the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) and Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), have long voted around this trademark, and the Left has risen slightly in recent days.
Alliance Building
After voting, attention will be transferred to the alliance construction process. German parties rarely get an absolute majority, and which group ensures the largest number of seats in Congress usually still has to find governance partners to ensure a dominant majority.
The process can take weeks or even months – before that the parties negotiate extensively before signing a coalition agreement detailing their common policy positions and plans.
“The latest polls show that the Conservatives (CDU/CSU) will get the highest votes, but they will need one or two (unlikely) alliance partners, which may be SPD and/or green,” Deutsche Bank analyst said. Party.” Earlier this week.
All major political parties have said they will not enter the league with the far-right AFD. Despite a series of controversy and investigations into its behavior, the party’s results will still be under the radar for its growth in popularity, which has also sparked a nationwide protest.
Smaller parties will also focus on this election – their entry into parliament may affect whether a third alliance partner is needed to form a majority government. This could also be key if the new government wants to make any changes to the constitution, which requires support from two-thirds of the majority, and smaller parties can effectively prevent it from happening.
Early elections
The elections were several months ahead of the initial planned months, due to the breakup of the so-called Traffic Lights Alliance – a coalition composed of Scholz’SPD, the Greens and the FDP. The league has been in power since 2021 since long-time Prime Minister Angela Merkel took over.
Scholz Turn on fire Former Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
Then the steps were taken to trigger a quick election – which happened only three times in German history. Scholz first had to vote on himself in the country’s parliament before proposing the latter Disbanded Pay tribute to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
The head of state then dissolved the House of Commons and set a Sunday election date.
