Merkel endorses conservative candidate hours before German election

Berlin, September 25 (BNA) Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed her conservative candidate to replace her, a day before the country’s voters pave the way for the formation of a new government.

She said Laschet’s tenure as prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia was marked by “bridge building” and that throughout his political career he had demonstrated that he had championed solidarity, not only in theory, “but with enthusiasm and heart”.

Merkel left office after 16 years in power. The conservative CDU/CSU bloc lags the Social Democratic Party (centre left) in the latest opinion polls by only a few percentage points, reports dpa.

“If you want to settle in Germany, the CDU/CSU should be in first place tomorrow,” Laschet said, also speaking at the event in Aachen.

He added that a left-wing alliance is a realistic possibility if the Social Democrats, the Greens and the far-left D-Link succeed in garnering enough votes in Sunday’s elections.

Social Democrat candidate Olaf Schultz appeared at his latest campaign event in Brandenburg, saying that forming a coalition with the Greens would be his “favorite” election result.

He reiterated that any government led by Schulz would have a gender quota. “Half men and half women,” he said.

The third candidate for chancellor, Annalena Barbuk of the Green Party, officially concluded her campaign on Saturday.

She will not be drawn to the coalition she favors in the aftermath of the election, saying she will dedicate herself entirely to her campaign until the last minute.

Now sitting in the far third in the polls, she is seen as unlikely to have a shot at the chancellorship. But her party is expected to significantly improve its electoral share compared to the last election in 2017, and is even expected to be part of a future coalition government.

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With so many undecided voters in Germany, a poll result is considered impossible.

Polling has often been inaccurate in the past.

Most observers expect the outcome of the vote to be a three-way coalition, but it is not clear who will be in it.

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