German voters shift substantially to the right in landmark election

John Yang:

Good evening. I'm John Yang. We begin tonight with two big stories. Overseas, in Germany, voters went to the polls in a national election that saw a surge in support for the far right. From Berlin, special correspondent Malcolm Brabant has our report.

Malcolm Brabant:

In the end, there were no surprises. The German people delivered what the opinion polls predicted. They turned substantially right, rejecting the left leaning coalition that has governed for the past four years. The center right Christian Democrats, or CDU, secured the most votes and their leader, Friedrich Merz, is in pole position to become the country's next chancellor. But he needs the support of at least two other parties to have a majority in parliament, the Bundestag.

Friedrich Merz, CDU Chancellor Candidate:

We must now quickly regain our ability to act so that we can do the right thing at home, so that we can be present in Europe again, so that the world realizes that Germany is being governed reliably.

Malcolm Brabant:

The party celebrating the most is the one that came second, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, backed by the Trump administration. It polled 20 percent of the national vote, twice what it achieved in the last election. Most of its support comes from the former communist East Germany, where there's huge resentment towards the three and a half million refugees and asylum seekers who've entered the country since the former Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the borders to people fleeing the Syrian war in 2015.

But the AfD will not be invited to join the coalition because of its far right roots and policies. This means its leader, Alice Weidel, can make life extremely uncomfortable for the incoming German administration.

Alice Weidel, AfD Chancellor Candidate:

We have become the second strongest force as alternative for Germany, and we have now firmly established ourselves as a people's party.

Malcolm Brabant:

This has been a landmark election and voting was brisk in the capital, Berlin, which is Germany's melting pot and traditionally more tolerant than in the provinces where the AfD has done well.

Man:

The migration for sure. The numbers are too high. Too many people come uncontrolled in our country. And Clinton wise, it's the economy, stupid. The economy really has to work again.

Malcolm Brabant:

While the Social Democrats and Greens come to terms with the scale of their defeat, the victors must get to grips with migration, the economy, and potentially the worst relationship with the United States in peacetime.

Although Germany has taken a firm step to the right tonight, it's not going to get the government that its people voted for. The CDU leader, Friedrich Merz has made it quite clear that he's not going to cooperate with the AfD. And so, he'll have to partner up with the outgoing left leaning Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who may require considerable concessions.

And Merz will also need the help of a third party to have a majority in parliament. And so the horse trading begins. 35 years after the Wall came down, Germany is once again a divided country. For PBS News Weekend, I'm Malcolm Brabant in Berlin.