Social Democrats Declare Victory, in Germany's Historic Election.
The Social Democrats (SPD) party is
described as center-left and now holds
206 parliamentary seats.
The SPD defeated outgoing
Chancellor Angela Merkel's party,
the Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Merkel has led Germany for nearly 16 years. .
Her tenure as Chancellor could end up
being the longest of any post-War German leader.
The leader of the SPD party, Olaf Scholz,
declared that his party's win means they have
been handed a mandate to form a new government.
Scholz has indicated his intention to form
a coalition of the Green and Liberal parties.
The Green party won a historic
15 percent of the vote.
The leader of Angela
Merkel's conservative party
disputes his rival's
victory declaration ... .
... signaling a battle ahead for the SPD to solidify its narrow win.
The CDU won 196 parliamentary seats.
Merkel will remain
chancellor until the
coalition is formed.
Regardless of which top party — either the SPD or the
CDU — is able to negotiate a successful coalition, .
a three party coalition government
is a first for Germany.
While Germany's far-right party performed poorly in the election, it appears to hold the most sway of any party in the country's eastern states with nationalist leanings