The morning after election, Germans wake up wondering who will be the next Chancellor
Record ID:
1638868
The morning after election, Germans wake up wondering who will be the next Chancellor
- Title: The morning after election, Germans wake up wondering who will be the next Chancellor
- Date: 27th September 2021
- Summary: STREET WORKER CLEANING STAIRS WITH HOSE
- Embargoed: 11th October 2021 06:36
- Keywords: Cologne German election chancellery chancellor's office commuters morning reax reactions vox pops
- Location: BERLIN & COLOGNE, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN & COLOGNE, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Europe,Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA003EWHVBD3
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Germans woke up on Monday morning (September 27) wondering who might lead the next government following the close national election result hours earlier.
The Social Democrats (SPD) were set to start the process of trying to form a government after they narrowly won their first national election since 2005 to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel.
In Cologne, commuters on their way to work were unsure what would come now in the new post-Merkel era. In the last elections, coalition talks lasted until March.
"The outcome isn't clear and I'm anxious to find out who will enter coalition negotiations now," said Andreas Wolfram, adding "personally, I would prefer the SPD with the Greens and the FDP."
Mass circulation daily Bild simply said "chancellor thriller" on its cover.
In order to secure a majority in parliament, the SPD is likely to seek an alliance with the Greens and the FDP, although the two parties could also team up with the conservatives.
The centre-left SPD won 25.7% of the vote, ahead of 24.1% for Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, according to provisional results.
The Greens came in at 14.8% and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) were on 11.5%.
If Scholz, 63, succeeds in forming a coalition, he would become the fourth post-war SPD chancellor after Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schroeder.
Finance minister in Merkel's cabinet, he is a former mayor of Hamburg.
But Laschet, 60, still hung on to the possibility that he could be chancellor, even though he led the conservatives to their worst ever election result.
(Production: Leon Malherbe, Andi Kranz, Michele Sani) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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