Damaged by her handling of the 2015 migrant crisis, Merkel's conservative bloc won 32.9 percent of the vote, down 8.6 points from the 2013 election and hitting its lowest level since 1949. "There cannot be a coalition government built against us," she said, adding she was sure there would be a stable government by Christmas. However, a complicated and potentially unstable three-way coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens, untested at the national level, with a weaker Merkel could unsettle investors. One of the biggest shocks was the strength of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) which won 13.0 percent of the vote. It was the first time a far-right party entered the German parliament in more than half a century.

Source: bd News24 September 25, 2017 04:07 UTC