7 questions that help you understand the German elections

Germany is holding a federal election on February 23 – a snap vote called by chancellor Olaf Scholz when his coalition government fell apart at the end of last year. Parties are running to win seats in the national parliament, or Bundestag. And with an unusual level of interest from onlookers outside the country, including  the world’s richest man, The Conversation asked Gabriele Abels, the Jean Monnet professor for comparative politics and European integration at the University of Tübingen, to prime us on the basics, via seven essential questions.

1. Who are the main parties in the German election?

The parties standing in the federal election are, from left to right on the political spectrum: Linke (the Left), SPD (social democrats), Greens, FPD (liberals), CDU/CSU (conservatives), AfD (right-wing extremist/populist).

There is also the Buednis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), but this party is not so easy to fit into the left-right spectrum. The BSW holds leftist positions on social policy issues but is also anti-migration and opposed to sanctions against Russia and against military support for Ukraine.

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2. When will the results be declared?

It will take several days after February 23 to confirm the final results of the election.

Based on the exit polls we will have fairly reliable results that evening but there may still be some uncertainty. It depends on how many people vote by post (a trend which is  on the rise) and on how the smaller parties fare.

There are three such parties – Linke, FDP and BSW –  hovering around a 5 per cent vote-share in pre-election polls. This is the threshold for qualifying for any seats in parliament at all, so whether or not the three make it past 5 per cent will have quite an effect on the overall composition of the Bundestag and the distribution of seats among the parties in parliament.

There is an additional rule: parties winning at least three districts (basic mandate clause) qualify for the Bundestag and will get seats according to their share of party votes. The Linke is investing its hopes in this option.

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3. Who could be the next chancellor?

According to all opinion polls, the conservatives (CDU/CSU) will win the election and become the biggest party in government. This means that their lead candidate Friedrich Merz will become the next chancellor.

4. Will only one party form the government?

No party will have enough seats to form a government alone, given that the German system makes it extremely difficult to do so, by design. A coalition needs to be formed comprising parties that together hold more than 50 per cent of the seats in the Bundestag.

Even when we have the full results, forming a new government will, most likely, take some time. Talks between parties will start immediately after the election, but it might take several months to put a government together. It depends on the numbers at play and the political arithmetic – essentially the extent to which different combinations of parties agree or disagree on various policy positions.

During a period in the 1950s, when  Konrad Adenauer was chancellor, there was an option to have a single-party government. But even he preferred a coalition. Other than that, there has always been the need to form a coalition after an election.

Unlike the Nordic countries, we in Germany do not have a tradition of minority governments since they are considered to be too weak and unstable. Germans prefer governments which are backed by a clear majority in the Bundestag.

5. Why does Germany’s system require coalition govt?

It is partly political culture to prefer stable majorities and emphasise compromise. But the proportional voting system and increased political fracturing also play a part in delivering many different parties into the Bundestag.

Until the early 1980s, there were usually three parties (conservative, social democrats and liberals). Today, we have seven parties in the Bundestag. Proportional voting gives new parties more possibilities to win seats, while the 5 per cent threshold is a barrier against excessive fragmentation.

6. Will the AfD be in government?

No – at least, not this time. There is what we call a brandmauer (firewall), meaning that, so far, none of the other parties is willing to form a government with the AfD. The most likely partner would be the conservatives. Yet, their lead candidate Merz is very outspoken that cooperation with the AfD would mean  selling out the conservative soul. Given that the AfD is becoming more and more radical, this is not likely to change in the near future.

However, there is already a level of cooperation between the AfD and other parties at the local level and even in some  state parliaments, especially in East German Länder (states). Often, new patterns of coalition formation are tried out in Länder parliaments and later serve as models for the federal level. The AfD is hoping this will be the case for them.

7. Is this a historical election?

I would not call this election historic on the scale of the one that just took place in the US. But this election is nevertheless important – and is perceived as important by voters in terms of the future of Germany and its economy.

Migration and the economy are the top issues and there is a strong sense of frustration as well as a growing distrust in politics. The majority of voters are happy about the snap election given that the  coalition led by Olaf Scholz was no longer efficient and there was constant in-fighting.

However, given that this election has been called at short notice, it’s not clear that turnout will match the current strength of feeling. There has not been much time to register for a postal vote and parties have had only a brief campaign window to win over voters. Which of them will be able to mobilise their voters and also non-voters (recently between  25 per cent and 30 per cent of the electorate will be a crucial deciding factor. Lately the AfD has been successful in terms of mobilising non-voters and also at mobilising young voters. That said, older voters make up the majority, so a lot hangs in the balance.

This article is republished from  The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the  original article.