Exit poll: Merkel on track for fourth term after German election
BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel@@@s conservatives secured a fourth consecutive term in office on Sunday in an election that brought a far-right party into the German parliament for the first time in more than half a century, exit polls indicated.After shock results last year, from Britain@@@s vote to leave the European Union to the election of US President Donald Trump, many look to Merkel to rally a bruised liberal Western order and lead a post-Brexit Europe.Merkel@@@s conservative bloc - her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - won 32.5 percent of the vote, making them by far the largest parliamentary group, according to an exit poll for the broadcaster ARD.Their closest rivals, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), slumped to 20.0 percent - a new post-war low. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) stunned the establishment by finishing third and entering parliament for the first time with 13.5 percent.Merkel, Europe@@@s longest-serving leader, joins the late Helmut Kohl, her mentor who reunified Germany, and Konrad Adenauer, who led Germany@@@s rebirth after World War Two, as the only post-war chancellors to win four national elections.She must now form a coalition government - an arduous process that could take months as all potential partners are unsure whether they really want to share power with her.ByREUTERS06/08/2025 07:57 AMByREUTERS06/08/2025 05:36 AMByMAARIV06/07/2025 02:33 PMByWALLA!06/07/2025 11:18 AMByREUTERS06/07/2025 03:25 AM
