Germany elections: Who will replace Angela Merkel?

Analytics 09:28 26.09.2021
When German voters head to the polls on Sunday, a familiar name will be absent from the ballot.
 
After serving 16 years as German chancellor, Angela Merkel is not running for reelection. 
 
Instead, voters in the European Union's strongest economy and most populous country will be deciding what a post-Merkel Germany looks like. And the race for her successor, which is shaping up to be a close contest, may not be decided until days or weeks after Sunday’s contests.
 
Here are four things to know about the German elections.
 
It’s the end of an era
 
Merkel’s departure is no surprise. The chancellor first announced in 2018, after setbacks for her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party in regional elections, that she wouldn’t seek reelection at the end of her current term.
 
Merkel grew up in what was then communist East Germany. She earned a doctorate in chemistry and worked as a research scientist until the 1989 revolutions across Eastern Europe that led to the crumbling of the Iron Curtain. She entered politics, becoming an official in the first democratically-elected East German government. Following the reunification in 1990 of East and West Germany, she was elected to the country’s parliament, known as the Bundestag.
 
A protégé of longtime chancellor Helmut Kohl, Merkel rose through the ranks, becoming her party’s first female leader. After serving as lead of the German opposition from 2002 to 2005, Merkel made history after the 2005 elections by being appointed the country’s first female chancellor.
 
EUROPEAN UNION OFFICIAL SAYS GROWING FEELING RELATIONSHIP WITH U.S. IS ‘BROKEN’
 
During her tenure steering Germany, Merkel has dealt with four U.S. presidents – George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden.

In this July 15, 2021, file photo President Biden meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. 

Under Merkel’s watch, Germany’s become known as the European Union’s de facto leader, and the chancellor will likely be remembered as a pragmatic leader with an ability to keep her job by striking political compromises. And Merkel – in Germany, Europe and around the world – has earned a reputation as an honest broker and a reliable partner.

Who’s running to replace Merkel?
 
Just as in the U.S., German politics is dominated by two major political parties. They are Merkel’s party, the center right CDU, and the left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD). The two parties have steered Germany in a grand coalition the past eight years. 
 
The CDU, which runs on a combined ticket with its Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, has named Armin Laschet as its candidate for chancellor. Laschet is the governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, the country’s most populous state.
 
The SPD’s candidate is the current federal finance minister and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who is seen as the front runner in the race, amid an uninspiring campaign and gaffes from Laschet.
 
Unlike the U.S., Germany also has numerous other political parties that have grown in size and influence. Among them is the Green Party, whose leader Annalena Baerbock is also a candidate for chancellor. At age 40, she’s the youngest and only female among the major candidates for chancellor. But the former professional trampolinist is also the only one of the three who lacks any experience in government.
 
Candidates for the upcoming German election attend a final televised debate in Berlin, Thursday Sept. 23, 2021, ahead of the election on Sunday. From left to 4th left, Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD); Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP); Markus Soeder, Christian Social Union party leader and Bavarian Prime Minister, and Armin Laschet, chairman of the German Christian Democratic Union. From 3rd right to right, Annalena Baerbock, Green Party co-leader; Olaf Scholz, Finance Minister and SPD candidate, and Janine Wissler, co-leader of the left party Die Linke. (Tobias Schwarz/Pool via AP)
 
What are the major issues?
 
Climate change has dominated political debate in Germany in recent years, and that’s only been amplified in the wake of the country’s devastating floods this summer. The dominance of the issue has allowed the Green Party to broaden its appeal with voters. 
 
While all the major parties have stressed their credentials in combating climate change, the Green Party has the most aggressive platform in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
 
Economic issues and differences over boosting the minimum wage and pension system are also front and center in the election. 
 
Unlike in the U.S., foreign policy has been an afterthought in the current campaign. Not a single question on that topic was asked during a recent televised debate. 
 
How the election works
 
Germans don’t actually vote for chancellor. 
 
Instead, they cast a ballot for a local lawmaker and for their preferred party.
 
German elections to the Bundestag are run on a system of proportional representation, meaning that each party's vote share relates directly to how many seats they get in parliament. That principle makes it virtually impossible for a party to lead a government alone. Coalitions must instead be formed after the vote, and these often contain more than two groups.
 
Once the results from Sunday’s election are in, a new race to assemble a governing coalition begins. The leader of that coalition becomes the chancellor.
 
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, many German voters have already cast ballots by mail ahead of Sunday's election.
IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Drone attack in Russia's Udmurtia leaves three dead, dozens injured
20:15 01.07.2025
Billionaire Musk vows to launch new political party if controversial Trump bill passes Congress
20:00 01.07.2025
Broken Friendship: Azerbaijan–Russia Relations INTERVIEW
19:40 01.07.2025
Baku to host D-8 Youth Forum in July
19:30 01.07.2025
Speaker: Armenia should seriously begin discussing issue of stopping broadcasting Russian TV channels
19:20 01.07.2025
Russian Foreign Ministry: Azerbaijani envoy handed verbal note
19:15 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan signs $173.5M loan agreement with WB for renewable energy project
19:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan ink several documents to diversify economic partnership
18:45 01.07.2025
Another group of Ukrainian children arrive in Azerbaijan for rehabilitation
18:15 01.07.2025
IEPF Launches a Series of Trainings for NGOs
18:14 01.07.2025
Sahil Babayev: Azerbaijan aims to become green energy exporter
18:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani minister: Youth action plan to be drafted at international event in Aghdam
17:45 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan launches criminal case into killing of Azerbaijani brothers in Russia
17:30 01.07.2025
European diplomats visit West Bank town after deadly attack by Israeli settlers
17:15 01.07.2025
Poland’s president calls on gov’t to stop entry of migrants from Germany
17:00 01.07.2025
Artists, writers urge UK government not to ban pro-Palestine group
16:45 01.07.2025
China's Communist Party tops 100 million members in ‘significant milestone’
16:30 01.07.2025
China says ‘complicated’ boundary dispute with India will take time to resolve
16:15 01.07.2025
Severe weather batters Italy, leaving two dead and multiple regions on alert
16:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijan detains Russian citizens in Baku suspected of drug trafficking, online fraud
15:50 01.07.2025
China sanctions former Philippines senator over 'egregious conduct' on Beijing-related issues
15:30 01.07.2025
Meta fined over $512,000 by Taiwan for lack of transparency over advertisers
15:15 01.07.2025
Trump says Musk would ‘head back to South Africa’ without US subsidies for EVs
15:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani brothers murdered in Russia hit with blunt instrument, examinations reveal
14:45 01.07.2025
Kazakhstan commends top-tier organization of ECO Youth Forum in Azerbaijan's Aghdam
14:30 01.07.2025
U.S. Charge d'Affaires hails Azerbaijan’s support in ensuring safe evacuation country's citizens from Iran
14:15 01.07.2025
Slovakia appoints Azerbaijani native as ambassador to Baku
14:00 01.07.2025
Fitch reveals forecast for Azerbaijan's state budget deficit in 2025
13:45 01.07.2025
WSJ: Amazon is on the cusp of using more robots than Humans in its warehouses
13:30 01.07.2025
Politico: EC ready to allow countries to restrict access to social networks by age
13:15 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani brothers murdered in Russia hit with blunt instrument, examinations reveal
13:00 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani official elected vice-president of international conference
12:45 01.07.2025
US approves $510M sale of munitions guidance kits to Israel
12:30 01.07.2025
Death toll in India factory blast rises to 34
12:25 01.07.2025
Azerbaijani ambassador leaves Russian Foreign Ministry building
12:15 01.07.2025
Iranian president to attend ECO summit in Azerbaijan's Khankandi
12:10 01.07.2025
Russia summons Azerbaijani ambassador
12:00 01.07.2025
Iran-linked hackers threaten to release Trump aides' emails
11:45 01.07.2025
Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip leave 95 Palestinians killed
11:30 01.07.2025
Israel shoots down over 1,000 Iranian drones — permanent representative to UN
11:15 01.07.2025
Hamısı