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German Chancellor Angela Merkel secured a second term in office following Sunday's vote: "I am happy to have achieved a great thing."
Foto: KAI PFAFFENBACH/ REUTERSGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel won a second term in Sunday's federal election and will be able to form a government with the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), dumping the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) with which she ruled since 2005 in an uneasy coalition, projections showed.
She will have a comfortable center-right majority in the Bundestag lower house of parliament with an estimated 323 seats, 15 more than the absolute majority of 308 seats, according to a projection broadcast on ZDF television.
According to the ZDF projection, Merkel's conservatives won 33.8 percent, down 1.4 points from the 2005 result of 35.2 percent, while SPD support fell to a record low of 23.1 percent, down 11.1 points from four years ago.
"I am happy that we have achieved a great thing, to get a stable majority in the new government made up of conservatives and the FDP," a beaming Merkel told supporters at the headquarters of her Christian Democrat Union party in Berlin.
'Angie, Angie'
"I want to be the chancellor of all Germans to enable our country to do better and come out of this crisis," she said, smiling coyly as supporters chanted "Angie, Angie!"
But the true winner of the election was the FDP, which had campaigned on a platform of tax cuts and which saw its support jump by 4.9 points to 14.7 percent, its best result in a federal election, according to projections.
After four years ruled by a so-called grand coalition between the two major parties in which many differences were shelved and political debate between the left and right was stifled, Germany politics is set to become more polarized.
The FDP is expected to fight for business-friendly measures such as relaxing rules protecting workers from dismissal, a policy that is preprogrammed to spark fierce opposition from trade unions and the SPD, the Left Party and the Greens.
Merkel's new center-right government is also expected to extend the life of some of Germany's nuclear power stations that are due to be phased out by 2020, and to lower taxes.
The two parties last governed together under Helmut Kohl as chancellor, from 1982 until 1998."We're pleased about this excellent result but we know that above all this means we must take responsibility in government, and we're ready to do that," FDP leader Westerwelle told jubilant supporters in Berlin.
In previous center-right governments, the FDP has traditionally had the foreign, economy and justice ministries.
The voter turnout at 71.2 percent was sharply after the main parties waged a lackluster election campaign.
Black Day for Social Democrats
The outcome is a disaster for the SPD, which slumped to its worst result since World War II. Merkel's SPD challenger, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, could be succeeded as foreign minister by Westerwelle.
The SPD has been in government since 1998 but was weakened by unpopular welfare cuts it enacted in 2003 and 2004 under former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Many traditional SPD voters drifted to the Left Party, which was formed in 2007, or they didn't bother to vote at all because they were put off by the SPD's failure to maintain a strong left-wing identity as junior partner to Merkel's conservatives.
"It was a bitter defeat," Steinmeier told German television in a discussion among the party leaders. "We weren't able to get all our voters into polling stations. Many who didn't vote are or were SPD sympathizers and we've got to work to win them back over in the coming years. We have to lead the SPD back to its old strength."
He said that with the FDP in government, Germany was about to shift to the right. "Social democracy will be missing from this government in future and people will notice that," Steinmeier warned. He is due to become opposition leader and will lead the SPD's parliamentary group.
The Left Party scored 12.4 percent, a rise of 3.7 points, while the Greens rose two points to 10.1 percent.
Westerwelle, who is set to become deputy chancellor, said his FDP would quickly start coalition talks with the conservatives. "We want a fair tax system, better education opportunities and to make sure that civil rights are respected once again," he said.
According to exit polls, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats won Germany's federal election on Sunday. Here Merkel takes center stage shortly after the exit poll results are announced.
"I am happy that we have achieved a great thing, to get a stable majority in the new government made up of conservatives and the FDP," a beaming Merkel told supporters at the headquarters of her Christian Democrat Union party in Berlin.
The exit poll published by ARD television showed Merkel's conservatives at 33.5 percent, down 1.7 points from the 2005 result of 35.2 percent, while SPD support fell to a record low of 22.5 percent from 34.2 percent. Here Merkel casts her vote in Berlin together with her husband Joachim Sauer.
Merkel enters the Treptow Arena in Berlin to the sound of the Rolling Stones for a final campaign rally Saturday.
A supporter of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) wears a hat with a picture of chancellor and party chairwoman Merkel stuck on it.
Angela Merkel looks set to be able to form a coalition with her preferred partner, the business-friendly Free Democratic Party.
The last campaign event before the general election kicked off just hours after Merkel's plane landed from Pittsburgh, where she attended a G-20 meeting this week.
Youngsters hold up "Angie" posters one day before Germany goes to the polls.
Angela Merkel during her final campaign event in Berlin on Saturday. "Don't vote tactically. Just vote simply," she told the crowd of voters.
Merkel was visibly tired as she waved to the 2,500 supporters who flocked to the arena on Saturday.
Thousands of Merkel supporters clad in orange "Angie" T-shirts have spent the months prior to the election campaigning for the party chairwoman.
Horst Seehofer, the leader of the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, holds up a gingerbread heart which reads "Angela, our sunshine."
German voters went to the polls on Sunday with polling stations opening at 8 a.m. Here, a bulldog tagged as a "voter's assistant" slumps at his owner's feet in a voting booth in Bavaria.
Voters on their way to the polling stations in North Rhine-Westphalia. By midday the stations had recorded significantly less voters than at the last elections in 2005. The sign reads "Please go and vote. Federal election = personality choice."
Voters in traditional folk dresses, so-called "Trachten," stroll past a poster of Angela Merkel in the early hours of Sunday in Bavaria. Back in 2005 the turnout was 77.7 percent -- the lowest turnout ever recorded in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.
Two men in traditional costumes pose after casting their votes in Southern Germany. Despite a sunny day, turnout seemed to be heading for a record low on Sunday. By 2 p.m., 36.1 percent of voters had gone to the polls. In 2005, 41.9 percent had already cast their votes by that time.
A woman in Brandenburg casting her vote: At total of 62.2 million Germans are entitled to vote in Sunday's election.
A woman, wearing a hat traditional to the Black Forest region, grins while casting her vote. A total of 27 parties and 3,556 candidates are battling for votes.
German President Horst Köhler and his wife Eva Luise cast their votes on Sunday in Berlin.
Incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) votes in Berlin's Mitte district as her husband Joachim Sauer looks on. Merkel appeared to be in a good mood, joking with journalists as she cast her ballot.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the chancellor candidate for the Social Democrats (SPD), and his wife Elke Büdenbender cast their votes in Berlin's western Zehlendorf district. Steinmeier told journalists that he hoped for a high turnout and a strengthening of democracy.
Renate Künast, top candidate for the Green Party, casts her vote at a polling station in the Berlin district of Tempelhof.
Guido Westerwelle, leader of the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP), casts his ballot in Bonn. He said he was confident that the vote would turn out in favor of the FDP. His party is Merkel's preferred coalition partner.
Top candidate for the far-left Left Party Gregor Gysi casts his vote in the Berlin district of Pankow.