Posted on 09/22/2013 9:29:47 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
BERLIN — An exit poll indicates that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives have emerged by far the strongest force in Germany’s election, though it’s unclear whether her coalition partners will stay in parliament.
The ARD television exit poll put support for Merkel’s Union bloc at 42 percent. But it put her coalition partners, the pro-business Free Democrats, on 4.7 percent — just below the minimum to keep their seats.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
A fantastic result for the CDU, but the SPD's second worst result of all time.
#CDU seen two seats short of parliamentary majority #BTW13
If a party fails to register 5%, are the seats apportioned to those parties that have over 5%? That is, if Merkel’s party has 42%, and 20% of the vote is divided among parties that fail to reach 5%, does that mean that Merkel’s party will control greater than 50% of the seats? (42% of 80%?)
Voters rewarded Merkel, often called the world's most powerful woman, with another four years at the helm for steering them unscathed through the eurozone debt turmoil that engulfed its southern flank.
But in one of the tightest races in German history, they punished her pro-business partner, the Free Democrats, kicking them out of parliament for the first time since 1949, according to the exit polls on public television.
The upstart anti-euro party AfD appeared to fall just short of the five-percent hurdle to representation amid anger over German contributions to bailout packages for stricken eurozone partners.
Under Germany's complex electoral maths, the result means the most likely scenario will be a left-right "grand coalition" between Merkel's Christian Democrats and their traditional opponents, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), which scored around 26 percent.
If a party fails to register 5%, are the seats apportioned to those parties that have over 5%?Less than 5% gets no seats.
Yep, looks like a ‘Grand Coalition’.
FDP seems to be fading into electoral oblivion.
RIGHT NOW ABSOLUTE MAJORITY PREDICTION - JUST IN!
Not very familiar with German politics or political parties, just asking.
That’s one hell of a trick in German politics; congratulations to the Chancellor.
Absolute majority is damned hard to pull off, electorally speaking.
Normally we like them, less taxes and for free market. In the past they switched sides so they have shifty reputation and some weird leaders like a gay and another was nazi.
I prayed for this.
Still developing though.
Merkel Close to Absolute Majority After German Election
Merkel on track to clear absolute majority in German elections
Merkel's conservatives on track for absolute majority - projection
bump
The media forecasts were wrong, I am so shocked. not.
forget the coalition, go for the majority
Are they as shifty and all things to all people like the PRI in Mexico or the LDP in Japan?
Springtime for Merkel and Germany.
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