Friedrich Merz’s conservative bloc has emerged as the clear winner in Germany’s election, securing a significant lead over competitors, though falling short of their targeted 30% vote share.
“Let’s celebrate tonight, and in the morning, we’ll get to work,” he told his supporters. Acknowledging the challenge ahead, he added that he was “aware of the responsibility that now lies ahead” of him.
Another major player in the election was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which secured a record-breaking second-place finish with 20.8% of the vote.
AfD’s chancellor candidate, Alice Weidel, made a victory lap among her supporters, though the party had anticipated an even stronger result. The mood at AfD headquarters remained subdued despite the historic achievement.
As the vote count extended into the early hours of Monday, projections from public broadcaster ZDF showed that the AfD had gained significant traction in eastern Germany, securing an estimated 34% of the vote.
“Germans have voted for change,” said Alice Weidel. She was skeptical about Friedrich Merz’s ability to form a stable coalition, predicting that his efforts would fail: “We’ll have fresh elections—I don’t think we’ll have to wait another four years.”
While eastern Germany turned light blue-the AfD’s color-the rest of the country largely shifted to black, representing Merz’s CDU.
Following the collapse of Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition last year, Merz had sought a decisive mandate from voters to form a stable government with just one coalition partner.
He argued that such a government would allow him to tackle Germany’s pressing issues over the next four years, from economic stagnation to curbing irregular migration.
However, German voters had a different vision. Turnout reached an impressive 83%-the highest since reunification in 1990-but Merz’s Christian Democrats, along with their Bavarian allies, secured only 28.6% of the vote, falling short of expectations.
Despite the AfD’s surge, Merz has ruled out any collaboration with them, citing Germany’s long-standing political “firewall” that prevents mainstream parties from aligning with the far right.
His most viable coalition partner, the Social Democrats, suffered their worst electoral defeat in history, garnering only 16.4% of the vote. Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the outcome as a bitter loss and announced that he would not participate in coalition talks.
Given the CDU’s underwhelming result, doubts initially arose over whether a two-party coalition would be sufficient to form a government.
Germany has just experienced four years under a three-party coalition, and the only other feasible partner for Merz was the Greens. However, tensions remain, as Merz had dismissed Green leader Robert Habeck as merely a “representative for heat pumps” just before the election.
At 69, Merz has never held a ministerial role, but he has pledged to provide strong leadership in Europe and reinforce support for Ukraine if he becomes chancellor.
The election also sparked controversy due to the open backing that billionaire Elon Musk and U.S. Vice President JD Vance gave to the AfD. Vance faced criticism for allegedly interfering in the election during his visit to Munich, while Musk repeatedly shared remarks on his X platform.
Despite the backlash, the AfD saw no negative impact-in fact, the party gained 10 percentage points compared to the last election. Additionally, Alice Weidel’s party benefited significantly from a well-executed TikTok campaign, which attracted a large number of young voters.
