Chancellor Angela Merkel says her conservatives will do everything to make the next four years successful for Germany after what appears to be a triumphant election win.
ARD and ZDF television projections Sunday showed a wide lead for Merkel's conservative Union bloc over challenger Peer Steinbrueck's Social Democrats. Merkel told supporters: "This is a super result."
But Merkel's coalition partners for the past four years, the pro-business Free Democrats, were in danger of losing their seats in Parliament.
'People here are watching very carefully to see what happens with the smaller parties in this election.'- CBC Reporter Margaret Evans
That means it's uncertain who Merkel can govern Germany with in a third four-year term.
"In Germany it really is all about coalition politics, and Merkel's main coliation partner, a pro-business party, is under threat, actually struggling according to opinion polls. to get the five per cent needed to get into parliament. And that could change everything," the CBC's Margaret Evans said, reporting from Berlin.
"Despite Merkel's huge popularity, she could actually be forced into a "grand coalition,' as they call it, with the Social Democrats. People here are watching very carefully to see what happens with the smaller parties in this election."
Peer Steinbrueck's centre-left Social Democrat party is expected to make major gains in this election. (Maurizio Gambarini/The Associated Press)
Early indications pointed to a higher turnout than four years ago, election officials said — with 41.4 per cent of eligible voters casting their ballots by 2 p.m.local time, four hours before polling stations closed. That compared with 36.1 at the same point in 2009. Experts say a higher turnout could help Steinbrueck's party.
No single party has won a majority in Germany in more than 50 years. Merkel would like to continue governing with her partner of choice, the pro-business Free Democratic Party — but polls have shown support for the smaller party fading from nearly 15 per cent in the 2009 election to around the 5 per cent needed to keep any seats in Parliament.
Plea for 'strong mandate'
Merkel pleaded Saturday for "a strong mandate so that I can serve Germany for another four years, make policies for ... a strong Germany, for a country that is respected in Europe, that works for Europe; a country that stands up for its interests in the world, but is a friend of many nations."
Her party has rebuffed calls from leading Free Democrats for Merkel supporters to back them, saying it has no votes to spare. Polls showed the coalition in a dead heat with a combination of Steinbrueck's Social Democrats, their Green allies and the hard-line Left Party — but the two centre-left parties have ruled out an alliance with the latter/
If her current coalition falls short of a parliamentary majority, the likeliest outcome is a switch to a Merkel-led "grand coalition" of her conservatives with the Social Democrats, the same combination of traditional rivals that ran Germany from 2005 to 2009 in Merkel's first term.
Merkel has a popularity rating of 70 per cent in Germany. (Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/The Associated Press)
That's unlikely to produce a radical change in policies. However, it could signal subtle shifts, perhaps a greater emphasis on bolstering economic growth over the austerity that Germany has insisted on in exchange for bailing out economically weak European countries such as Greece.
Final results are due within hours of polls closing at 6 p.m. local time. But with margins so close, the country could still face weeks of horse-trading before a clear picture of the new government emerges.
Merkel calls her current coalition "the most successful government since reunification" 23 years ago. She points to the robust economy and unemployment which, at 6.8 percent, is very low for Germany and far below that of many other European countries.
High popularity rating
Polls gave Merkel popularity ratings of about 70 per cent. The sky-high popularity doesn't extend to her coalition, which has bickered frequently over issues ranging from tax cuts to privacy laws. The Free Democrats have taken much of the blame.
'Stabilizing the euro is not just a good thing for Europe, it is in the elementary interests of Germany. It secures jobs and it secures our prosperity.'- Angela Merkel
"They said it was a marriage of love — that was how they ran in 2009 — and then the divorce lawyer spent the whole time running along the sidelines," Steinbrueck said at a rally in Frankfurt on Saturday.
Steinbrueck's platform stresses the importance of narrowing the gap between rich and poor. He wants to introduce a national minimum wage and raise income tax for top earners. Merkel and the Free Democrats contend that both measures could backfire and hurt the economy.
A new party, Alternative for Germany, which calls for an "orderly breakup" of the euro currency zone and appeals to socially conservative voters, could sap votes from the governing parties and complicate Sunday's outcome. Polls suggested that it could enter Parliament — but Merkel and others are ruling out working with it.
"Stabilizing the euro is not just a good thing for Europe, it is in the elementary interests of Germany," Merkel said Saturday. "It secures jobs and it secures our prosperity."
She said that her course of helping Europe's strugglers in exchange for budget discipline and reforms "must be continued."
A euro breakup "would set European unification back 20 to 30 years" and ruin German businesses, said Steinbrueck, whose party backed Merkel's eurozone policies in Parliament but criticized her for over-emphasizing austerity.
Germany's government, he said, has "a clear European responsibility to hold this continent together."
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