Merz Set to Form Next Govt, Scholz Concedes Defeat

Germany's mainstream conservatives won the country's national election, while a far-Right party surged to become the nation's second-largest party, according to provisional results following Sunday's election.

- Associated Press

BERLIN:

Opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory and Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded defeat. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, had the strongest showing for a far-Right party since World War II.

Merz's conservatives won 208 seats in the 630-seat Bundestag, while the AfD won 152.

The three parties in the former governing coalition lost seats, with the centre-left Social Democrats falling to 120 seats and the Greens to 85.

The Left party got 64 seats, while the left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance came in just under the 5% hurdle. The pro-business Free Democrats, which triggered early elections by pulling out of the coalition, also failed to reach the 5% of the vote required to win seats.