Provisional official results of Germany's general elections announced: Coalition appears inevitable

The German Federal Returning Officer announced the election results following the completion of the vote count across the country.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), finished in first place with a total of 28.6 percent of the vote. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party increased its vote share by 10.4 percentage points compared to the previous election, rising to second place with 20.8 percent.

The ruling Social Democratic Party (SPD) came in third with 16.4 percent of the vote, while the Green Party placed fourth with 11.6 percent. The Left Party increased its vote share by 3.9 percentage points to reach 8.8 percent.

One of the most striking results that shifted the country's political balance was the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which triggered the early elections, remaining at 4.3 percent and failing to pass the 5 percent threshold. The “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance – For Reason and Justice” (BSW) party, which participated in the elections for the first time, also remained just below the threshold with 4.9 percent.

COALITION INEVITABLE

The distribution of seats in the German Bundestag is as follows:

CDU/CSU 208,

AfD 152,

SPD 120,

Greens 85

The Left Party won 62 seats.

While no party reached the 316 seats required to form a government alone, the election results indicate that a coalition government between the CDU/CSU and the SPD is the strongest scenario.

News Source: AA