German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been re-elected for a fourth term in office on 24 September. Polling data from public broadcaster ARD / infratest-dimap said Merkel's centre right CDU / CSU alliance won 32.5% of the vote, ahead of the centre-left Social Democratic Party on 20% and the AfD.
Chancellor Merkel CDU/CSU bloc received its worst defeat in almost 70 years as she begins negotiations to form a new coalition government. Her bloc’s current coalition partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), say they will go into opposition after historic losses.
The AfD campaigned on the defending Germany from ‘foreign invasion’ against the backdrop of Merkel’s decision to open Germany’s borders to migrant and refugees in 2015.
