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German election mandate still in question
If Merkel is to become Germany's first female chancellor, she now must find a majority in a coalition that would likely force her to water down finance reform plans. And such a deal might also lead to a dampening of her strong opposition to Turkish membership of the European Union. The vote centered on different visions of Germany's role in the world and how to fix its sputtering economy. Schroeder touted the country's role as a European leader and counterbalance to America, while Merkel pledged to reform the economy and strengthen relations with Washington. With 298 of 299 districts declaring, the results showed Merkel's Christian Democrats party leading with 35.2 percent of the vote compared to 34.3 percent for Schroeder's Social Democrats. Voting in the final district, Dresden, was delayed until Oct. 2 because of the death of a candidate. But that outcome was not expected to affect the final result. The outcome gave Merkel's party 225 seats, three more than the Social Democrats; the Free Democrats got 61, the Left Party 54 and the Greens 51. Merkel's preferred coalition partners — the pro-business Free Democrats — had 9.8 percent, leaving such an alliance short of outright victory. The Greens, the Social Democrats' current governing partner, had 8.1 percent; together, the two parties failed to reach a majority, heralding the end of Schroeder's seven-year-old government. The Left Party had 8.7 percent of the vote, but
Schroeder said he would not work with them. The overall election turnout was
77.7 percent.
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