Conservatives win as Germans vote for change
24 Feb 2025
A Conservative bloc led by Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the CSU has won German Federal Election, securing 208 seats and 28.5 per cent of the votes polled with the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) securing 151 seats and 20.8 per cent of the votes.
Incumbent German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) plunged 10 percentage points to third spot with 121 seats and 16.4 per cent of the votes.
Final results showed the Greens securing the fourth place with 85 seats and 11.6 per cent votes, followed by the Left (Die Linke) with 64 seats and just 8.8 per cent vote share and the BSW with 5 seats and 4.97 per of the votes. Two smaller parties – Others with 1 seat and a 4.6 per cent vote share and FDP with 4 seats and 4.3 per cent vote share narrowly missed the 5 per cent threshold required to enter parliament.
US President Donal Trump said it is a “great day for Germany,” and described conservatives’ victory as the voters’ rejection of the “no common sense agenda, especially on energy and immigration.”
While Merz is on track to be the new German Chancellor, the incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD plunged 10 percentage points to third spot.
The elections come at a time when Europe’s biggest economy is facing stagnation and threats arising from migration and the energy crisis arising from the war between Ukraine and Russia.
The German economy, which has been facing stagnation for the past few years, might have been the deciding factor in the federal elections.
Recent incidents of extreme violence involving refugees have brought to the fore issues of migration without proper documentation and Merz is reported to have promised to stop entry to the country without proper documents, and to increase deportations/
The Ukraine-Russia war has also impacted the election results as competing parties have promised to support Ukraine if elected to power.
One surprising turn of events in the elections was the Left surge in capital Berlin, where Die Linke emerged as winner with an increased vote share of 19.9 per cent.
