Germany election: Juncker reflects on Merkel’s time in office
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Germans will be rushing to ballot boxes throughout the country on Sunday, with voting due to close at 6pm local time. Voters will be electing 598 parliament seats plus overhang and levelling seats in the German parliament, the Bundestag. A clear majority will require winning 300 seats. During the last election in 2017, Mrs Merkel’s centre-right bloc recorded its worst result for nearly 70 years, with current coalition partner the Social Democrats (SPD) faring even worse.
New CDU leader Armin Laschet, who is taking over from the outgoing Mrs Merkel, will be hoping to improve on that result but had seen his party fall behind in several polls over the course of this week.
However, his party now appear to be making up ground, with several polls putting the centre-right almost level with the centre-left SPD, which is led by current Finance Minister Olaf Scholz.
The latest poll from FAZ/IfD Allensback on Friday also showed the Green Party finishing third with 16 percent, and they could still feature in a Government as a wide range of coalitions are possible to navigate.
SPD candidate Mr Scholz said during a rally in Berlin that a coalition with the Greens might be possible, telling voters: “The stronger the SPD is, the easier it will be to build a Government.”
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Millions of Germans set to vote in election
The German election will see millions of people visit polling stations on Sunday to cast their vote.
Polling stations will open at 8am local time and close at 6pm.
The leading candidates are Armin Laschet from the CDU and Olaf Scholz – currently the Finance Minister in the coalition Government – from the SPD.
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