Angela Merkel's CDU Party Wins German Election But Must Form Govt With Greens & Free Liberals

FABRIZIO BENSCH / REUTERS

Angela Merkel's CDU Party Wins German Election But Must Form Govt With Greens & Free Liberals

Politico Europe shares news of Angela Merkel's victory as the Germany chancellor's Conservative party posts its worst score in national elections since 1949.  Likewise, the second-place Social Democrats (SPD) lost votes to the third-place, far-right finishers. 

“We don’t need to beat about the bush, we had hoped for a better result. But we should not forget that we had a very challenging parliamentary term behind us,” Merkel told supporters at the headquarters of her CDU party.

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“We have the task of forming a government.”

With the Social Democrats saying they will now become an opposition party, Merkel will be trying to form a governing coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (estimated 10.5 percent) and the Greens (9.1 percent). Such a coalition has never been attempted in Germany -- although if anyone can thread that needle, it's Angela Merkel. 

Alexander Gauland, one of the leaders of the anti-immigrant AfD, vowed to “hunt” Merkel’s government from its new base in parliament.