Germany Elections: Conservatives, Far-Right Win Second in Unprecedented Score

Friedrich Merz's conservatives won Germany's general election on Sunday, beating the far-right Alternative for Germany party despite its best-ever showing, according to two public television polls.

The conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union party won between 28.5% and 29%, according to the two polls broadcast by ARD and ZDF, while the Alternative for Germany party won between 19.5% and 20%, an unprecedented result for a far-right party in a federal election since World War II.

Merz, who is likely to succeed Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as chancellor, has ruled out any coalition with the far-right. Immediately after the results were announced, Merz stressed that he wanted to form a government "as quickly as possible" given the current international challenges. "The outside world will not wait for us, nor will it wait for lengthy coalition negotiations," he said in Berlin. "We must be ready to act quickly again to do what is necessary internally, to be present in Europe again."

In contrast, Scholz said he took responsibility for his Social Democratic Party's "bitter" defeat in the general election, without commenting on his political future. "The election result is bad, so I take responsibility for it," the outgoing chancellor told party activists, congratulating his rival Merz on his victory.

For her part, the leader of the Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidal, welcomed a "historic result" in the elections. Exit polls had shown that the Alternative for Germany party would achieve the strongest performance for the far-right in an election since World War II.

Voters in Germany began casting ballots in a general election on Sunday, with Friedrich Merz's conservatives expected to return to power. Merz's bloc, which includes the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), has consistently led opinion polls but is unlikely to win a majority in Germany's political fragmentation, forcing him to seek coalition partners.

His negotiations are expected to be difficult after an election campaign that exposed sharp divisions over immigration and how to deal with the AfD party in a country where far-right politics carry a deep stain from its Nazi past. That could leave unpopular Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a caretaker capacity for months, delaying much-needed policies to revive Europe’s largest economy after two straight years of contraction and as businesses struggle to cope with international competition.

Today's election comes after Schulz's coalition of the centre-left Social Democrats, the Greens and the market-friendly Free Democrats collapsed in November over a budget spending dispute. The SPD is on track for its worst result since World War II.

(AFP, AP, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed)