The Social Democrats’ candidate Olaf Scholz, the outgoing vice-chancellor and finance minister who pulled his party out of a years-long slump, said the result was “a very clear mandate to ensure now that we put together a good, pragmatic government for Germany.”
The closely fought race saw the Social Democrats edge out the Union bloc by 25.9% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for the Union bloc. No winning party in a German national election had previously taken less than 31% of the vote and the result means a coalition will need to be formed, ITV reported..
Merkel will carry on in a caretaker role until a successor is sworn in.
The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Olaf Scholz, announced that he had got a mandate to form a new German government with the Greens and Free Democratic Party (FDP) after winning the federal election, Sputnik reported.
Scholz said that the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union bloc of Angela Merkel should go into opposition following the Sunday vote.
ZZ/PR
Your Comment