German election race tightens 3 days before vote

Sep 23, 2021 6:51 PM PHT

Reuters

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German election race tightens 3 days before vote

LEADER. German Chancellor Angela Merkel leads the last cabinet meeting of the German government ahead of the national elections, at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, on September 22, 2021.

Markus Schreiber/Pool via Reuters

Chancellor Angela Merkel, in power since 2005, plans to stand down after the election

The German election race heated up on Thursday, September 23, as the lead of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives narrowed to just four points, three days before the federal election.

The SPD, whose candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz is currently vice chancellor and finance minister in Merkel’s grand coalition, slipped one point to 25%, according to the Kantar poll.

Support for the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, whose chancellor candidate is Armin Laschet, rose one percentage point to 22%, while the Greens slipped a point to 16% and the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) was stuck at 11%.

Merkel, in power since 2005, plans to stand down after the election. The SPD’s Scholz is German voters’ most popular choice by far to succeed her as chancellor. – Rappler.com