BREAKING NEWS

Exit poll: Merkel on track for fourth term after German election

By REUTERS

SEPTEMBER 24, 2017 19:07

BERLIN - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives secured a fourth consecutive term in office on Sunday in an election that brought a far-right party into the German parliament for the first time in more than half a century, exit polls indicated.

After shock results last year, from Britain's vote to leave the European Union to the election of US President Donald Trump, many look to Merkel to rally a bruised liberal Western order and lead a post-Brexit Europe.

Merkel's conservative bloc - her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - won 32.5 percent of the vote, making them by far the largest parliamentary group, according to an exit poll for the broadcaster ARD.

Their closest rivals, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), slumped to 20.0 percent - a new post-war low. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) stunned the establishment by finishing third and entering parliament for the first time with 13.5 percent.

Merkel, Europe's longest-serving leader, joins the late Helmut Kohl, her mentor who reunified Germany, and Konrad Adenauer, who led Germany's rebirth after World War Two, as the only post-war chancellors to win four national elections.

She must now form a coalition government - an arduous process that could take months as all potential partners are unsure whether they really want to share power with her.

IDF intercepts two drones fired by Islamic Resistance in Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

11/05/2024 10:34 PM

Israeli strike on Lebanon town kills 15, Lebanese health ministry says

By REUTERS

11/05/2024 10:08 PM

US: Gallant was important partner, we’ll work collaboratively with Katz

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

11/05/2024 09:54 PM

Netanyahu denies reports he plans firing IDF chief, Shin Bet head

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF

11/05/2024 09:42 PM