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| Queues were reported outside polling stations in Berlin as Germans voted. There are plenty of uncertainties about this election. In the run-up, more than a third of voters were still unsure who to vote for, although a record number have already posted their votes in. (Photo by=EPA) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] The fight to succeed popularly, long-serving chancellor Angela Merkel could barely be tighter as Germans vote in parliamentary elections. BBC said that the three candidates vying to succeed the chancellor voted in warm late-summer sunshine, as final polls put Mrs. Merkel's conservatives in second place.
At stake is the leadership of Europe's most powerful economy. More than 60 million Germans over 18 are eligible to vote and long queues were reported outside polling stations in Berlin. Voting ends at 18:00 (17:00 BST) and the first exit polls in this unpredictable election come out immediately. The race looked over until the outgoing chancellor entered the fray in support of the conservative candidate, her career at the top of German politics now weeks from coming to an end. Calling on all Germans to vote, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: "Whoever takes part will be heard, whoever does not vote lets others decide for them."
For months the opinion polls have swayed this way and that. The conservative CDU and its Bavarian sister party led initially, and at one point the Greens went in front, but then came a surge for the Social Democrats under Olaf Scholz. All three candidates for chancellor voted during the morning, and there was some concern when Mr. Laschet folded his ballot paper wrongly, displaying his choice to photographers.
