The CDU party leader Friedrich Merz will likely become the next German Chacellor|@_FriedrichMerz|X
Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) seems poised to become the next chancellor of Germany after preliminary results showed his center-right party received 28.9% of the votes.
The CDU was looking to gain 30% of the votes.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), publicly supported by Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk, came in second with 19.9% of the votes. Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) came in third, securing 16.2%.
What’s next?
Merz, the likely next chancellor, now faces the tough task of forming a coalition government amid Germany’s increasingly fractured politics. However, he has said that he will not partner with AfD.
The election underscores Europe’s largest economy’s growing political divisions, with immigration and economic stagnation dominating the campaign.