German Chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Angela Merkel (left) and CDU secretary general Hermann Groehe celebrate on stage after the German general elections in Berlin yesterday.
BERLIN: Chancellor Angela Merkel won a landslide personal victory in a German election yesterday, putting her within reach of the first absolute majority in parliament in half a century, a ringing endorsement of her steady leadership in the euro crisis.
Partial results put her conservative bloc — the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) — on 42.5 percent, which if confirmed would be their strongest score since 1990, the year of German unification. The outcome could give Merkel an edge of a few seats over the combined opposition in the Bundestag Lower House for the first time since conservative Chancellor Konrad Adenauer achieved that feat in 1957. But she may still need a coalition partner for her third term when the final votes are counted. “This is a super result,” Merkel told cheering supporters. “Together, we will do all we can to make the next four years successful ones for Germany.”
Despite the resounding victory, Merkel’s third term won’t be a cakewalk if she does end up ruling alone. REUTERS
