Merkel Seeks Fourth Term as Germans Vote in Federal Election
- Coalition options will be clearer after Sunday’s election
- Populist AfD set to enter Bundestag, may take third place
Germans headed to the polls in a federal election that will determine whether Angela Merkel scores a record-equaling fourth victory, with the big question being which other party or parties will join the chancellor’s Christian Democrats in her new government.
Merkel’s bloc, which includes her Bavarian allies in the Christian Social Union, had the support of about 36 percent of voters in the final opinion polls during the campaign. That’s about 14 percentage points ahead of its main challenger and current coalition partner, Martin Schulz’s Social Democrats. Four other parties -- the pro-business Free Democrats, the Greens, the anti-capitalist Left and, for the first time ever, the populist Alternative for Germany, or AfD, are poised to win seats in the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.