German voters will go to the polls next Sunday to elect a new German parliament, the Bundestag, and with it a new German government. The elections became necessary after the coalition between the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Alliance90/The Greens (Greens), and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) collapsed in November last year.
Twenty-nine parties are competing for the 630 seats in the Bundestag. All German nationals aged 18 and over from the country’s 16 federal states are entitled to vote, adding up to around 31 million women and 29 million men.
All voters can cast two votes. With the first vote, they vote for an individual candidate in one of 299 constituencies, in which the candidate with the most votes wins a direct mandate in the Bundestag. With the second vote, they vote for a party list, and this determines the majority in the Bundestag. To enter the Bundestag, a party needs at least five per cent of the vote.
The elections campaign has been dominated by the topic of immigration. Following several acts of violence committed by immigrants in various German cities, there has been increasing discussion about limiting the number of immigrants, tightening border controls, and extending the powers of the police.
Another important topic has been the poor economic situation in Germany. After two years of recession, hardly any growth is expected in 2025. The issues of peace, climate protection, and social security have therefore taken more of a backseat.
The seven leading parties competing in the elections are given below.
The Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) is scoring 30 per cent in the opinion polls, and Friedrich Merz is the CDU candidate for the next German chancellor.
In recent years, the CDU/CSU has been the largest opposition party in Germany and now wants to be in government. Its programme, “Policy Change for Germany,” proposes the limitation of irregular immigration into Germany, as well as strengthening the economy. “We will speed up asylum procedures and the return” of illegal immigrants, it says.
“We will reduce the corporate tax burden to a maximum of 25 per cent,” the programme says, promising also to review social benefits and possibly cut them and to make more money available for defence. Nuclear energy is to be retained, and a national security council is to be established to coordinate foreign and security policy.
The Alternative for Germany (AFD) Party stands at 21 per cent in the polls. Alice Weidel is the party’s candidate for chancellor.
The other parties in the Bundestag have refused to enter into a coalition with the AFD, seeing it as belonging to the extreme-right wing. “Time for Germany” is the party’s slogan, and once again the topic of immigration is prominent. The “asylum paradise of Germany” should be closed, it says, adding that “foreigners who have been ordered to leave the country should be returned to their home countries.”
The AFD does not want to participate in a European asylum policy. It is calling for Germany to leave the European Union, replacing it with a new confederation of states and the reintroduction of national currencies. It wants to see the lifting of economic sanctions against Russia and gas supplies from there reintroduced.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) stands at 15 per cent in the polls. Its candidate for chancellor is Olaf Scholz, the incumbent, whose prospects of remaining in office are not good.
The SPD slogan is “More for You. Better for Germany,” with social issues being a central theme in the party’s campaign. It wants “life to remain affordable, with a higher minimum wage” and tax relief for those on low earnings. Those on higher earnings should pay more tax. The party is also promising stable pensions.
In terms of immigration policy, the party advocates faster asylum procedures, rejecting Germany going it alone outside the EU. It wants to see continuing support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia, but no supply of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. It is focusing on a “Germany Fund” that will provide investments of initially 100 billion euros for housing, electricity, heating and hydrogen networks.
The Alliance90/The Greens (Greens) has a poll rating of 13 per cent. The incumbent Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck is its candidate for chancellor. The party’s programme is based on the idea of “Growing Together,” focusing on ecological modernisation, social justice, and strong European partnerships. It wants to see Germany become more sustainable, fairer, and more innovative.
Professional qualifications held by immigrants are to be recognised more easily and work bans for refugees reduced. The Party wants to see a “genuinely welcoming culture” in Germany. It wants to renovate Germany’s dilapidated infrastructure from the ground up. Housing should become more affordable, as well as public transport. The party wants to expand renewable energy and shut down coal-fired power plants.
The Left Party is polling six per cent in the polls. Heidi Reichinnek and Jan van Aken are leading candidates in the elections. “Everyone Wants to Govern. We Want to Change,” the party says in its programme, which focuses on social justice, peace, and climate protection. It wants to see the abolition of VAT on basic foodstuffs and public transport, an increase in inheritance tax, and the introduction of a wealth tax.
The Left Party sees itself as a socialist alternative that is critical of capitalism. It is probably the party with the most liberal programme on asylum-seekers and refugees. “All people must have the same rights and opportunities, regardless of their passports and origins,” it says. It presents itself as the “peace party” and condemns the Russian war against Ukraine.
The Alliance Sarah Wagenknecht (BSW) stands at five per cent in the polls. Sarah Wagenknecht is the party’s candidate for chancellor. The alliance, founded one year ago, is running under the slogan “Our Country Deserves More.” It has left-wing economic and health policies.
On asylum, the party says that “migration is not the solution to the problem of poverty in our world.” It must be “limited,” it says, adding that it wants to “end uncontrolled immigration” into Germany. Under the first point in its programme, entitled “Peace,” the BSW rejects German arms deliveries to Ukraine or Israel as well as higher defence spending.
“We do not want any more German taxpayers’ money to be used to prolong this senseless war” in Ukraine, it says. It wants to nationalise German energy networks and reduce energy prices, including by importing oil and gas from Russia.
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) has four per cent in the polls. Its leader, Christian Lindner, was federal minister of finance until November 2024, and he would like to be chancellor. “Everything Can be Changed” is the FDP slogan.
The FDP has always been a kingmaker in German coalition governments. It has a programme built around a liberal economic core of relieving the tax burdens on citizens and businesses, less government, less bureaucracy, more personal responsibility, more educational opportunities, a strong economy and civil rights.
The FDP says that “irregular migration is still not sufficiently under control” and “jobs and prosperity are at risk.”
In order to form a new government after the elections on 23 February, the would-be governing parties need to form a majority of MPs in the Bundestag.
According to German political scientist Ulrich von Alemann, “in terms of forming a government, in all likelihood it will come down to a CDU/CSU and SPD government with a smaller party to achieve a majority.”
“However, without the basic conflict over debt and state investment in the economy, which caused the last government to collapse, having been resolved, it will be a challenge for the new government to be formed.”
* A version of this article appears in print in the 20 February, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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