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Reuters: German Voters Appear to Oust Schroeder
Angela Merkel's conservatives were the leading party in today's German election but her center-right alliance lacked a parliamentary majority, exit polls indicated as voting ended.Polls by leading institutes broadcast on German television put Merkel's conservatives - the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) - the biggest share of the vote at 35.5-36.0 percent and their preferred partners, the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), at 10.5 percent - not enough to form a governing coalition. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's SPD stood at 33.5-34.0 percent, its partners the Greens at 8.5 percent and the new Left Party at 7.5-8.5 percent. With her conservatives the top vote-getters, Merkel, who grew up in the ex-communist east, seems likely to replace Schroeder, who has ruled Germany for seven years. But without enough support to govern with the FDP, Merkel could well be forced to share power with Schroeder's SPD in Germany's first "grand coalition" since the 1960s. EFL Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-09-18 |
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