SDP leader Olaf Scholz said he had a clear mandate to form a government, having emerged in first place - although with only 25.7 percent of the vote (Photo: Council of the European Union)

Election means three-party German government likely

Rule of Law

by Eszter Zalan, Brussels,

Germany seemed to have caught up with the rest of Europe: fragmented political landscape after the elections, month-long coalition negotiations in the making, and the two biggest parties losing their outright dominance on the political stage.

Sunday's race to succeed chancellor Angela Merkel failed to produce a clear winner, with Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SDP) barely beating Armin Laschet's centre-right Christian Democratic (CDU/CSU) alliance, but with both only getti...

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Rule of Law

Author Bio

Eszter Zalan is a Hungarian journalist who worked for Brussels-based news portal EUobserver specialising in European politics, focusing on populism and Brexit.

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