Merkel for fourth term as chancellor, right party for first Bundestag seats

When the polls in German’s election opened Sunday, Chancellor Angela Merkel was expected to sail into her fourth term after 12 years in office. However, although her Christian Democrats (CDU) are expected to lead, the makeup of her coalition may change, given that six parties are running for the first time since WWII for 598 seats in parliament. One of them, the right-wing anti-immigration, anti-Islam Afd party is predicted to pick up one-third of the vote and its first seats in the Bundestag in more than half a century. It has gained from the dissent for Merkel’s open-door policy, which brought a million refugees from the Middle East and Africa to Germany. Merkel’s coalition partner the Social Democrats are her main rival.
A record one-third of Germany’s 61.5 eligible voters are over 60.