Free Republic

On Saturday night, at the end of a speech on immigration, I was asked by a lady in the audience about Sunday's impending election in Germany. She had met a young Teutonic chappie who said he was voting for Angela Merkel, and she couldn't understand why. And I said that Frau Merkel was certain to win the election, but what would be important to watch would be the respective strengths of the losing parties: my questioner's chum was voting Merkel because he feared the rise of the "far right" - ie, AfD, Alternative für Deutschland - but I suggested that...

Just one day after her party’s success in the German federal elections yesterday (September 14), Frauke Petry, co-chair of far-right party Alternative for Germany, said she would not be part of the parliamentary group. Petry’s surprise announcement after the far-right AfD won around 13 percent of the vote in Germany’s elections, an historic result meaning that the party would not only enter parliament for the first time but also as the third strongest party. The news appeared to come as a shock to her colleagues, with fellow co-chair Jörg Meuthen telling German press agency dpa, that he “had had no...

Germany’s Social Democrats said Sunday they will not continue governing in a ‘grand coalition’ with Angela Merkel’s conservatives after projections showed they had scored their worst general election result in post-war history.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term in federal elections, exit polls suggest. Her conservative CDU/CSU alliance has won 32.5% of the vote, remaining the largest party in Germany's parliament, according to the ARD poll.

Thread for German Election: Polls close - first projections Polls have closed. The first ARD projection by Infratest dimap is: CDU/CSU: 32.5 SPD: 20 AfD: 13.5 FDP: 10.5 Green: 9.5 Left: 9

In recent weeks, officials inside Germany’s security agencies have been fondly circulating an article from the website of Foreign Policy magazine that was published on Aug. 3 with the headline, “Russian Hackers Can’t Beat German Democracy.” The article speculates about what Russia could do to disrupt the German federal election, which takes place on Sept. 24, and argues that the Russians will certainly attempt to interfere. Notably, though, the magazine concludes that the Kremlin is unlikely to succeed. Germany, the article argues, is excellently prepared for dealing with any attack because politicians and voters alike have been sensitized to the...

Angela Merkel vowed that she would deliver more “successful years for Germany” as exit polls indicated a commanding lead for her party over the main opposition. Angela Merkel is heading for a third term as Germany’s chancellor, as exit polls showed she could even be on course for the historic achievement of an absolute majority in the country’s parliament. An early projection by the state broadcaster ARD on Sunday evening showed Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party (CDU) winning 301 seats in the 598-seat Bundestag, enough to form a government without a coalition partner. Later projections suggested, however, that she could...

Following are key facts about Germany, which is holding a federal election today: Population: 82.5 million (end 2004), including 7.3 million foreign citizens. Some 3.4 million people live in the capital and largest city Berlin. Most populous western European country. Area: 357,022 sq km (137,906 sq miles). Germany, at the heart of Europe, shares borders with nine other countries. Government/Politics: Germany is a federal republic. President Horst Koehler has been head of state since 2004, but his job is largely ceremonial. Parliament has a lower house, the Bundestag, and an upper house, the Bundesrat. The Bundestag to be elected on...