Merkel declares victory in elections, AfD enters parliament

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared victory for her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the federal elections held today and announced the formation of a new government, Al Jazeera reported, via NAP.

"We want to maintain a strong European Union and conduct a detailed analysis of why the AfD received such a large number of votes," Merkel stated in her first address after the elections. 

"We have achieved our strategic goal; it is impossible to form a government without us, and we have once again been given the responsibility to do so," Merkel said, describing the campaign as difficult. She promised to try to win back voters who cast their ballots for the far-right party AfD through "good policies."

We must continue economic reforms and maintain a strong economy, she said.

"Of course, we also want to maintain the strength of the EU and Europe. To fight against illegal immigration and the causes of immigration, and of course, to do everything to maintain internal security," Merkel said.

She has already announced talks with potential partners for the formation of a new government for Monday, for her fourth term as chancellor.

CDU Victory

Merkel and her Christian Democrats won the federal German elections with at least 33.5 percent of the vote, according to initial unofficial and incomplete projections from German media based on exit polls after polling stations closed.

This confirmed public opinion polls and political assessments by analysts who predicted Merkel a fourth term as chancellor, with some even suggesting she might remain in the "chancellor's office" longer than her former "political father," the "record-holding" Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who ruled Germany for 16 years, reports Tanjug.

The second strongest political party is Martin Schulz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) with 21 percent of the vote, while the third, as many feared, is Alternative for Germany (AfD) (13 percent), a party of right-wingers and Eurosceptics, which gained political points on the issues of refugees, foreigners, the expansion of the European Union, and the resolution of the financial crisis.

In the new, 19th post-war Bundestag, there will also be representatives from the Left Party, the successor to the former East German communists, and the Green Party (each with almost nine percent), as well as the Liberals (close to 10 percent), whom young Christian Lindner managed to bring back to parliament.

SPD in Opposition

German Social Democrats have admitted defeat in the elections and announced that they would rather go into opposition than enter a new coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats.

"This is a difficult and bitter day for German Social Democrats; we have lost the elections," stated Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Martin Schulz in his first reaction after the exit poll results were announced.

He added that the party would fight to achieve its election promises and values, reports Tanjug.

According to AFP, the SPD achieved its worst result in today's elections since World War II.

"We will take on the role of opposition," said SPD Vice-Chairwoman Manuela Schwesig after the exit poll results were announced.

Thomas Oppermann, who leads the SPD in parliament, confirmed that the "SPD's place is in opposition."

Germany's anti-immigration and far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), which entered parliament for the first time in today's elections, has promised to "change the country."

"We will go after Merkel. We will take back our country and our people," said one of the AfD leaders, Alexander Gauland.

'We underestimated the AfD'

One of the AfD leaders, Frauke Petry, thanked the citizens who, she said, were dissatisfied with the performance of the Grand Coalition.

"We will continue to criticize, because it yields results. Emotions are an integral part of politics, and many other parties are dissatisfied with how things have been done so far. Today we will analyze the results, and tomorrow we will determine the course of our actions," she said.

Angela Merkel's party lost nine percent of the vote, and the SPD lost 5.7 percent compared to the 2013 results.

Bavarian Prime Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) stated that a mistake was made because the danger of the right-wing's strengthening was not taken seriously.

"We underestimated it. We need to see how to keep the AfD aside and not allow the right-wing to strengthen," he said.

Four years ago, the final turnout was 71.5 percent, and this year, due to the polarization of voters, significantly contributed to by the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), a slightly higher turnout is expected.

According to current projections, the new composition of the Bundestag could consist of 631 parliamentarians: the Union would have the most representation with 219 parliamentarians. The SPD could send 138 parliamentarians to parliament, which is 55 fewer than before. The AfD, according to current results, should be represented by 87 parliamentarians in the Bundestag. The FDP would have 68 representatives, the Greens 61, while the Left would be represented by 58 parliamentarians.

Complex System

Germany has one of the most complex voting systems for electing its parliament (the lower house) in Europe. The voting system aims to combine the advantages of direct and proportional political representation, and elections are held every four years.

In this year's federal elections, 61.5 million people were eligible to vote, of which 31.7 million were women and 29.8 million were men. Almost three million people will be able to exercise their right to vote for the first time.

More than a third of voters in Germany, almost 22 million, are over 60 years old. Many analysts believe that the older generation will have a significant impact on the election outcome.

The largest number of eligible voters live in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia (13.2 million), Bavaria (9.5 million), and Baden-Württemberg (7.8 million).