Merkel Chastised as Far-Right Surge Taints Fourth-Term Win
- Martin Schulz’s Social Democrats set to go into opposition
- Anti-immigration AfD party enters Bundestag for first time
German Chancellor Merkel on Winning the Election
This article is for subscribers only.
Angela Merkel won a fourth term as German chancellor in a victory that was marred by the hollowing out of support for the two main parties and a surge for the populist AfD in a clear rebuke to her open-doors refugee policy.
Merkel’s Christian Democrat-led bloc and her main challenger, Martin Schulz’s Social Democrats, plunged to historic lows as votes flowed to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, in a sign of the growing polarization in Europe’s biggest economy. Six parties are poised to enter the lower house, the Bundestag, for the first time since 1953. Merkel and the other party leaders will hold press conferences on Monday to discuss the results.