Egypt Daily News – Friedrich Merz led the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to a clear victory in the elections and is now on the verge of becoming Germany’s next chancellor.
On stage, surrounded by other senior candidates from the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), Merz hailed Sunday as a “historic election evening.”
Speaking shortly after polls showed his party leading with around 29% of the vote, Merz promised to begin coalition talks as soon as possible. “We fought a tough election campaign on important issues… Now we will talk with each other. We need to be able to move quickly,” he said.
Cheers erupted at the CDU headquarters after early results indicated the party was on track to win the elections. The CDU had long been the frontrunner to secure the largest share of votes.
Outside the party building, a small group of protesters demonstrated against what they see as Merz’s hardline stance on immigration. Protesters held banners with burning flames, accusing the CDU of a possible collaboration with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Merz has denied any intention to cooperate with the AfD.
Early results also showed the far-right AfD securing 19.5% of the vote in the German parliamentary elections. This marks the best performance for a far-right political party in Germany since the end of World War II.
The AfD nearly doubled its vote share compared to the last elections in 2021.
Meanwhile, current German Chancellor and Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Olaf Scholz took responsibility for his party’s poor performance in the elections, admitting that the result was a “defeat.”
“This is a bitter election result for the SPD; this is a defeat. It is a result we will have to leave behind us,” Scholz said at the party headquarters, adding that he takes full responsibility for the outcome, just as he did four years ago when his party emerged victorious.
Scholz thanked party members and volunteers for their campaign efforts and took a moment to defend his government’s record over the past four years. He reminded the audience that this period had been challenging, with Russia launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine shortly after his government took office.
The outgoing chancellor congratulated his rival, Friedrich Merz of the CDU, and said he found it unacceptable that a far-right party had achieved such a result as the AfD did on Sunday.
“I will never accept this,” Scholz stated.
