German election 2025: The contenders have made contrasting proposals to turn around the German economy, which has shrunk for the past two years and hasn’t managed real growth in much longer.
Center-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory in Germany’s national election on Sunday (February after exit polls showed his bloc in the lead. Merz said he was aware of the dimension of the task he faces and said that “it will not be easy.” Merz said he aims to put together a governing coalition as quickly as possible.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat for his centre-left Social Democrats after what he called “a bitter election result.” Projections for ARD and ZDF public television showed his party finishing in third place with its worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.
It wasn’t immediately clear how easy it will be for Merz to put together a coalition government. The election took place seven months earlier than originally planned after Scholz’s unpopular coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting.
There was widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates. The projections, based on exit polls and partial counting, put support for Merz’s Union bloc at just under 29 per cent and Alternative for Germany, or AfD, about 20 per cent- roughly double its result from 2021. They put support for Scholz’s Social Democrats at just over 16 per cent, far lower than in the last election. The environmentalist Greens, their remaining partners in the outgoing government, were on 12-13 per cent.
Out of three smaller parties, one- the hard-left Left Party- appeared certain to win seats in parliament with up to 9 per cent of the vote. Two other parties, the pro-business Free Democrats and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, hovered around the threshold of the 5 per cent support needed to win seats. Whether Merz will need one or two partners to form a coalition will depend on how many parties get into parliament.
“I am aware of the responsibility,” Merz said. “I am also aware of the scale of the task that now lies ahead of us. I approach it with the utmost respect, and I know that it will not be easy.” “The world out there isn’t waiting for us, and it isn’t waiting for long-drawn-out coalition talks and negotiations,” he told cheering supporters. “We must now become capable of acting quickly again.”
AfD’s candidate for chancellor, Alice Weidel, said that “we have become the second-strongest force.”
She said that her party is “open for coalition negotiations” with Merz’s party, and that “otherwise, no change of policy is possible in Germany.” But Merz has repeatedly and categorically ruled out working with AfD, as have other mainstream parties. The Social Democrats’ general secretary, Matthias Miersch, suggested that the defeat was no surprise after three years of the unpopular government. “This election wasn’t lost in the last eight weeks,” he said.
The election was dominated by worries about the years-long stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy and with pressure to curb migration. It took place against a background of growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States. Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier, after the US. It will be central to shaping the continent’s response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration’s confrontational foreign and trade policy.
Germany votes in election with economy, far-right strength in focus
German voters are choosing a new government in an election Sunday dominated by worries about the years-long stagnation of Europe’s biggest economy, pressure to curb migration and growing uncertainty over the future of Ukraine and Europe’s alliance with the United States.
The centre-right opposition is favoured to win, while polls point to the strongest result for a far-right party since World War II. Germany is the most populous country in the 27-nation European Union and a leading member of NATO. It has been Ukraine’s second-biggest weapons supplier, after the US.
It will be central to shaping the continent’s response to the challenges of the coming years, including the Trump administration’s confrontational foreign and trade policy. The top candidates, conservative front-runner Friedrich Merz and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats, voted within minutes of each other in different parts of the country on Sunday morning.
What are Germans voting for?
More than 59 million people in the nation of 84 million are eligible to elect the 630 members of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, who will take their seats under the glass dome of Berlin’s landmark Reichstag building. Germany’s electoral system rarely produces absolute majorities, and no party looks anywhere near one this time.
It’s expected that two or more parties will form a coalition, following potentially difficult negotiations that will take weeks or even months before the Bundestag elects the next chancellor.
This election is taking place seven months before it was originally planned after centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition collapsed in November, three years into a term that was increasingly marred by infighting. There’s widespread discontent and not much enthusiasm for any of the candidates.
Who could take charge?
Centre-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s Union bloc has consistently led polls, with 28-32 per cent support in the most recent surveys, and Merz is favoured to replace Scholz. Scholz’s Social Democrats have been polling between 14-16 per cent, which would be their worst postwar result in a national parliamentary election.
The far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, has been running in second place with around 20 per cent of the vote- well above its previous best of 12.6 per cent in a national election, from 2017- and has fielded its first candidate for chancellor in Alice Weidel. But other parties say they won’t work with it, a stance often known as the “firewall”.
The environmentalist Greens also are running for the top job, with outgoing Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, but have been polling a little behind Scholz’s party. Merz has pledged “stability instead of chaos” after Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed following long-running internal arguments, including over how to revitalize the economy.
But it’s unclear whether the conservative leader, if he wins, will be able to put together a stable government that does much better. Merz hopes for a two-party coalition, but may end up needing a third partner to form a government.
The realistic candidates to join a Merz government are Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats- who were the smallest partner in Scholz’s collapsed government and may not manage to stay in parliament. The Free Democrats and another small party are hovering at around 5 per cent of the vote, the threshold to qualify for seats in parliament. If they do, there may be no majority for a two-party coalition.
What are the main issues?
The contenders have made contrasting proposals to turn around the German economy, which has shrunk for the past two years and hasn’t managed real growth in much longer. That’s going to be a central job for the new government. Migration moved to the forefront of the campaign in the past month following deadly attacks committed by immigrants.
Merz vowed to bar people from entering the country without proper papers and to step up deportations if he is elected chancellor. He then brought a non-binding motion calling for many more migrants to be turned back at Germany’s borders. Parliament approved it by a narrow majority thanks to AfD votes- a first in postwar Germany.
Rivals made Merz’s attitude toward AfD, which generated protests, an issue. Scholz accused Merz of “irresponsible gambling” and breaking a taboo. Merz has rejected those accusations, saying that he didn’t and won’t work with AfD. He has repeatedly and categorically said since that his party will “never” do so.
Mainstream parties have vowed to keep up support for Ukraine in its war against Russia. And after the Scholz government reached a NATO target of spending 2 per cent of gross domestic product on defence, the next administration will have to find a way to keep that going- and likely expand it, in the face of US demands- once a special 100 billion-euro (USD 105 billion) fund to modernise the military is used up in 2027.
