{"id":6233,"date":"2021-09-28T11:57:22","date_gmt":"2021-09-28T11:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cavendishadvocacy.com\/?p=6233"},"modified":"2023-06-15T18:39:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T17:39:40","slug":"the-vote-for-german-chancellor-and-federal-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cavendishconsulting.com\/article\/the-vote-for-german-chancellor-and-federal-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"The vote for German Chancellor and Federal Elections"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yesterday, elections for the Bundestag<\/em><\/strong> took place in Germany. The election results constitute a substantial<\/strong> defeat for the governing Conservatives (CDU\/CSU)<\/strong>. At the dawn of the 16 years long era of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), Germany finds itself at a turning point. For the first time<\/strong>, it is very likely that the Federal Government will encompass up to three parties<\/strong>. The race remains too close to call who will lead the next government. It remains unclear whether Olaf Scholz (Social Democrats) or Armin Laschet (Conservatives) will be the next Federal Chancellor. The narrow results also open up the door to new possible coalitions. At the same time, the formation of the new government<\/strong> will be rather complex and take some time<\/strong>. According to German electoral law, the voters do not directly elect the Chancellor<\/strong> but determine the composition of the Bundestag <\/em>by voting for candidates and party lists.<\/p>\n

Monday morning\u2019s preliminary official results did not indicate a clear winner as the two major parties appear to be nearly tied at around 24-26%.<\/p>\n

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Preliminary official results <\/strong>including the difference (in percentage points) to the 2017 Federal Elections are: Conservatives (CDU\/CSU) 24,1,% (-8,9%), Social Democrats (SPD) 25,7% (+5,2%), The Greens 14,8% (+5,9%), Liberals (FDP) 11,5,% (+0,8%), The Left (Die Linke) 4,9% (-4,3%), Alternative for Germany (AfD) 10,3% (-2,3%) and other parties 8,6% (+3,6%). The voter turnout remained similar to the previous elections at 76%.<\/p>\n

The results display a substantial loss for the Conservatives, while the Social Democrats managed to improve their results,<\/strong> in comparison to the last Federal Elections. Commentators argue that SPD\u2019s Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz (SPD) managed to gain ground on the Conservatives by representing stability and continuity. He served as Vice-Chancellor and Federal Finance Minister of the current government. Furthermore, as opposed to the Conservatives, the Social Democrats stood firmly behind their candidate and demonstrated unity<\/strong> throughout the election campaign.<\/p>\n

The results represent a substantial loss for the Conservatives, coming in with the worst result the party has seen at a Federal Election <\/strong>so far. Commentators argue that the Conservatives\u2019 bad performance is due to disunity in the party<\/strong>, several scandals surrounding conservative policymakers and mistakes by Armin Laschet (CDU\u2019s Chancellor candidate) throughout the election campaign.<\/p>\n

The Greens achieved their best result in a Federal Election <\/strong>so far, almost doubling their results compared to the last elections in 2017. Albeit, the party still underperformed and came in third<\/strong> after ranking first in some polls in spring. The Liberals and the AfD retained almost the same position<\/strong> as in the last elections. However, the hard-left Linke party suffered losses<\/strong> and will just slightly enter the next German parliament.<\/p>\n

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Likely coalitions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\"\" \"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Due to the distribution of seats in the Bundestag, <\/em>the following coalitions are possible and politically conceivable:<\/p>\n