After securing 4th term, Merkel looks for coalition partners
25 Sept 2017 10:53 PM IST
BERLIN: Germany's Angela Merkel began the tough task of trying to build a coalition government on Monday after securing a fourth term as chancellor in an election which saw her support slide and the far right making significant gains.
Damaged by her decision two years ago to allow one million migrants into Germany, Merkel's conservative bloc secured 33 percent of the vote, losing 8.5 points — its lowest level since 1949. Her coalition partners, the centre-left Social Democrats, also slumped and said they would go into opposition.
Voters flocked to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), the first far-right party to enter the German parliament in more than half a century. However, the AfD hardly had time to savour its third-place showing before it fell into internal bickering.
Many Germans see the rise of the AfD as a similar rejection of the status quo as votes for Brexit and Donald Trump last year. But Germany's political centre held up better than in Britain and the United States as more voters have benefited from globalisation and most shun the country's extremist past.
Merkel's party remained the biggest parliamentary bloc and Europe's most powerful leader said her conservatives would set about building the next government.
She said she was sure a coalition would be agreed by Christmas. The euro and European stocks slipped on Monday.
"The weak result could make Angela Merkel a lame duck much faster than international observers and financial markets think," ING economist Carsten Brzeski said.
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