Skip next section DW correspondent: SPD shocked by results02/23/2025February 23, 2025
DW correspondent: SPD shocked by results
On the first floor of the (SPD) party’s headquarters, the Willy Brandt House in Berlin, I meet German Development Minister Svenja Schulze. She seems upset. The result has shocked many here.
“This goes deeper than just changing heads,” Schulze tells DW, when asked whether party leaders Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken will now have to step down.
“We have to change something programmatically,” she said, adding that the SPD must convey unity.
For the center-left party, the next important election is just a week away: the Hamburg state election next Sunday.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwcv
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Habeck: ‘Merz needs to start acting like a chancellor, not a provincial campaigner’
lead candidate has defended his party’s projected 13% of the vote as “respectable,” reasoning that the Greens “haven’t collapsed” like the other coalition parties, the SPD and the FDP.
But he blamed the Greens’ underwhelming result out on the behavior of the CDU’s , which he said had “boosted the extremes.”
Habeck, who has served as vice-chancellor since 2021, was referring to Merz’s controversial attempt to pass a motion through parliament with the help of the far-right which led to some calls on the left and center-left for parties to refuse to work with the CDU.
“I couldn’t promise that,” said Habeck. “I’ve always said we want to take responsibility, so that path wasn’t open to us. And we’ve paid the price for that.”
Merz’s conservative camp, particularly the Bavarian Premier , have ruled out working with the Green Party, but Habeck insisted he is available for talks – provided Merz alters his behavior.
On the eve of the election, Merz had given a rather bad-tempered speech to supporters in which he shouted that there was no more room for “left wing politics” or “Green policies,” which Habeck thought was inappropriate.
“Merz now has the mandate to govern and I hope he realizes what responsibility he has,” he told Tagesschau. “The center has been weakened and Merz needs to ask himself if he’s contributed to that. He needs to start acting like a Chancellor, not a provincial campaigner.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwcu
Skip next section Fact check: Do ballot boxes have to be locked in Germany?
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Fact check: Do ballot boxes have to be locked in Germany?
The claim: Users on social media are saying that the election result in is being manipulated because some ballot boxes don’t have locks on them. This user on X wrote, “If you want to know why the same people are always in power in Germany. Ballot box in constituency 84, district 10, polling station 324. According to the election board, the Federal Returning Officer does not consider it necessary to seal the ballot boxes.” Similar claims were made by other users, like here, “This would allow them to be opened and all ballot papers could be replaced by others, as the number of voters cast is recorded.”
The facts: According to the German Federal Election Code section 51, says the box “must be lockable.” However, it does not specify that it needs to be locked. The Federal Returning Officer also published similar statements on a website on disinformation about the German parliamentary elections.
According to a fact check published by the AFP, a spokeswoman for the Federal Returning Officer explained on the phone: “How it is closed is not specified. There does not have to be a lock on it or a seal.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwam
Skip next section Who gained the most in Germany’s election?
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Who gained the most in Germany’s election?
The big winner in terms of voter share was the far-right (AfD) party, which completed the latest vote with a 9.3% jump in support on Sunday.
The conservative alliance also increased its support by 4.8% compared to 2021. The ultra-leftwing (BSW) might stay below the 5% hurdle needed to enter the parliament, but — at least on paper — its growth is impressive, as it only formed out of the socialist Left Party a year ago.
The center-left (SPD) was the biggest loser. The party’s support fell by 9.6% compared with the 2021 election.
Despite negativity recently around the cost of the energy transition, support for Germany’s only fell by 1.5%.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwZy
Skip next section Green chancellor candidate Robert Habeck had hoped for more
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Green chancellor candidate Robert Habeck had hoped for more
chancellor candidate , the country’s outgoing vice chancellor and economy minister, voiced disappointment with the results of Sunday’s vote when speaking with DW on Sunday evening.
“I wanted more, we dreamed of more. But after the CDU voted with AfD on migration legislation in the Bundestag, many of our supporters told us: ‘you can’t govern with them.”
Habeck congratulated on his election victory, though the mood among the Green base would seem to rule out any possibility of staying in government as most members refuse to support Merz with help from the party.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwZl
Skip next section German election: Latest projections
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
German election: Latest projections
Here are the latest projections of German election results, updated in real time.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qw7x
Skip next section Greens: ‘Europe facing a difficult period’
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Greens: ‘Europe facing a difficult period’
The pro-environment is unlikely to remain in the government, despite only a slight drop from 14.7% in 2021. Estimates after the latest election put them at 13.5% of the vote.
“This result is an expression of a shift in society,” Green lawmaker Felix Banaszak told Tagesschau, trying to emphasize the positives.
“Europe is facing a difficult period,” he said. “With in the US, Germany and Europe are going to have to step up. And this result shows that, even though we’ve come out of an extremely difficult coalition, there’s still a need in society for progressive, ecological, global, tolerant politics.”
The CDU have frequently ruled out inviting the Greens to enter a coalition with them, but Banaszak is trying to remain optimistic.
“We’ve always said we’re still prepared to take on responsibility to push our topics, even in the next government. So, let’s see, it’s too early to say what will be mathematically possible and what not, but our willingness to take responsibility remains.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwXl
Skip next section Scholz takes responsibility for ‘a bitter result’
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Scholz takes responsibility for ‘a bitter result’
Incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz described the outcome of the vote as a “defeat” for his center-left party.
“This is a bitter election result for the Social Democratic Party,” Scholz said.
He thanked his party members across the country for fighting hard during the campaign.
Scholz reminded the audience that the last election result was a good one for SPD.
“I am responsible for this election result too,” he said, taking responsibility for the defeat. Scholz then congratulated Merz and the CDU/CSU on their election result.
“We live in a democratic country,” Scholz said, adding that he and his party has long fought for democracy and in that vein, he repudiated the AfD results. “This is not something that we just forget about it, we can never just accept this result, I for one will never just accept this kind of result,” Scholz said of AfD coming second in the elections, drawing loud applause.
The German chancellor called again for excluding AfD from government, saying he hoped other parties will also continue to pledge to not work with them.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwVn
Skip next section Left Party: ‘We listened to people and we acted’
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Left Party: ‘We listened to people and we acted’
Some of the biggest cheers of the evening when the exit polls were revealed were heard in the suburb of Neukölln, headquarters of the , which is predicted to win up to 8.5% of the vote and comfortably enter parliament.
“I’m so incredibly grateful for this result which shows clearly that our focus on social topics was successful,” said co-chair Heidi Reichinnek. “We were absolutely right to listen to people and act. We were right to focus on rent and food costs. We showed that we don’t just talk; we act.”
Having only barely scraped into parliament in 2021, the far-left party was facing an existential battle — especially after losing members to the new left-wing populist .
The BSW is now fighting its own battle to enter parliament having been predicted to have won only 4.7-5.0% of the vote. The Left Party , however, enjoyed a late surge.
“We’ll stand up for lower rents, affordable housing, the abolition of VAT on food stuffs, hygiene products and public transport, and a fairer tax system which lifts the burden from the majority,” said Reichinnek when asked about her party’s priorities.
The have already ruled out working with the Left Party, but Reichinnek said: “Whether in government or opposition, it doesn’t matter, we want to change things. And with such a strong faction in parliament, we’ll be doing that louder than ever before.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwUz
Skip next section AfD hail ‘epochal’ election result02/23/2025February 23, 2025
AfD hail ‘epochal’ election result
Matthew Moore
The media are being tightly controlled here at the AfD election night party but I managed to ask one of the AfD’s earliest and oldest members, Albrecht Glaser for his reaction.
“To be so ahead of the SPD, the oldest political party in Germany is epochal,” he told DW. “And they (the SPD) haven’t understood why that is.”
But I have to say the initial reaction in the room as the exit poll was announced was flat. That just reflects how far the party has come. Most in the AfD were hoping to be comfortably above 20%. That may still happen, but it will be a long night. Either way, Germany’s right-wing populist AfD has made history tonight.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwVm
Skip next section CDU/CSU Merz celebrates ‘historic election night’
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
CDU/CSU Merz celebrates ‘historic election night’
A jubilant Friedrich Merz addressed supporters at CDU headquarters on what he called “a historic election night” for his conservative bloc.
“We the CDU and CSU, the Union block, won this election,” Merz said, followed by long applause from supporters at a packed house.
“We won them because the CDU and CSU worked very well together and prepared very well for this election,” Merz added, thanking CSU leader Markus Söder, who stood by his side during the speech, for his work in the campaign.
Merz also thanked the party’s youth wing, the Junge Union group, for their participation in the campaign.
“Thank you for placing your trust in me” said Merz, who is the most likely candidate to take the chancellor seat. He added that the way forward will not be easy.
“The world won’t wait for us, it won’t wait for long drawn-out coalition negotiations. We must be capable of acting again quickly, so that we can do the right thing in Germany, so that we are present again in Europe and so that the world sees: Germany has a reliable government again,” Merz said.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwTE
Skip next section Fact check: Does signing a ballot make it invalid?
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Fact check: Does signing a ballot make it invalid?
The claim: In a post viewed 150,000 times on X, voters of the Germany’s far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) were asked to sign their ballot papers: “Sign your ballot paper” is written in large letters on a graphic that was distributed by a satirical account. Other users also shared the graphics. The image resembles AfD election campaign advertisements. Other similar images are also circulating on other networks such as Reddit.
The facts: Signed ballot papers are invalid in Germany. Any form of handwritten additions such as a signature or comments invalidate the ballot paper, even if they are actually intended to confirm the vote. The website of the Federal Returning Officer, which organizes and monitors the Bundestag elections, makes it clear: “If a reference to the voter (for example by stating their name) is written on the ballot paper, it will be invalid because it jeopardizes the secrecy of the ballot.” This is regulated in section 39 of the Federal Elections Act: “Votes are invalid if the ballot paper contains an addition or reservation.” Any calls to sign ballot papers are therefore requests to invalidate a vote.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwUD
Skip next section Exit polls point to three key conclusions, says DW’s Thomas Sparrow
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
Exit polls point to three key conclusions, says DW’s Thomas Sparrow
The first is that Germans voted for change. The three parties that until last year formed the governing coalition, the (SPD), the and the (FDP), didn’t get the results they were hoping for. They all reduced their share of the vote compared to 2021.
In fact, the governing SPD ended up for the first time in third position, after getting their historically worst result.
The second conclusion is that Germany is shifting to the right. The conservative bloc /, which until now was the main opposition bloc in parliament, won the largest share of the vote.
They ended up with fewer votes than they had hoped for, but they’re still in pole position to lead the next government.
A third conclusion is that voter turnout — at 84% — is being described as the highest since Germany’s reunification in 1990.
Many voters had been undecided until the last minute according to pre-election surveys, but they turned out in large numbers to vote on Sunday.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwTn
Skip next section SPD: ‘A historic defeat’
02/23/2025February 23, 2025
SPD: ‘A historic defeat’
The General Secretary of the SPD has congratulated Friedrich Merz and the CDU and admitted a “historic defeat” for his party.
“This is a historic defeat, a really bitter evening,” Matthias Miersch told public broadcaster ARD after the SPD were predicted to have won barely 16% of the votes.
“It’s clear that this election wasn’t lost in the last eight weeks,” he summarized. “The coalition has been in stormy waters for a couple of years and now it’s been voted out. What sort of government is now formed, the extent to which the SPD can or should take on governmental responsibility, we simply can’t say for now. Merz has the mandate to govern, and we’ll have to wait and see what constellations are possible.”
Asked about the future of outgoing SPD Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Miersch said: “We had a chancellor who led this country through difficult times but ultimately he couldn’t win over the voters. That’s a fact on this disappointing evening.”
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwT2
Skip next section DW analysis at CDU headquarters: ‘Grand coalition’ could be the most stable outcome02/23/2025February 23, 2025
DW analysis at CDU headquarters: ‘Grand coalition’ could be the most stable outcome
The mood at the CDU is far from euphoric: No cheers, no tears of joy, just a dutiful applause. If the conservative bloc remains under 30%, it would be significantly below their expectations.
The evening is still young, and much can still change, but the projected outcome seems to indicate that the conservatives’ strategy has not worked. Its migration policy has evidently caused it to lose more votes than it has won, and might also have mobilized left-wing voters.
However, a clear winner is the far-right AfD, which has roughly doubled its share of the vote. What the next government looks like could come down on the neoliberal FDP. If they make it past the 5% hurdle required to enter the Bundestag, the seat distribution will likely make it impossible for the two centrist forces, the SPD and the CDU/CSU bloc, to form a ruling coalition. This would mean that the next government would once again need three parties to survive. But if the FDP don’t make it, a “Grand Coalition” of the CDU/CSU and the SPD would be the most stable of all possible coalitions.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qwT0
The post German election: Projections say CDU/CSU leads with 29% appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
