Lagatar24 Desk
Berlin, Sept.27: In a quite intense German election, Olaf Scholz of the center-left Social Democrats defeated Angela Merkel’s conservatives, putting in motion months of delicate coalition discussions to determine who will run Europe’s largest economy.
According to provisional data, Scholz’s SPD, which had been the front-runner in the last weeks of the campaign, received 25.7 percent of the votes on Sunday, while the Christian Democratic-dominated alliance led by Armin Laschet received 24.1 percent. Both have stated their intention to lead the country’s next government. All parties, including prospective coalition kingmakers the Greens and the pro-business FDP, will meet separately in Berlin on Monday to discuss future moves.
Scholz said it’s evident that voters want him as chancellor, to applause from his supporters at the party headquarters on Sunday night. Defiant Laschet claimed that he, too, will try to build a coalition, despite the fact that his CDU/CSU bloc’s vote fell below 30% for the first time ever. He told disheartened supporters, “We will do everything we can to build a government.”
The outcome of the referendum will have far-reaching ramifications for Europe and the West after 16 years of Merkel’s pragmatic centrist leadership. Merkel will stay in power until a new government is formed, and if she stays until mid-December, she will surpass Helmut Kohl as Germany’s longest-serving leader since 1945.
