Who’s who and why this vote is important | Global News Avenue

German voters decided to hold the next government on February 23, and Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democrats liked to be the biggest power party.

Controlling immigration and restoring the EU’s largest economy is the main problem of this quick election, which is by Central left Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s alliance collapses At the end of last year.

We evaluate who you need to know before voting and what you need to know is Germany’s next parliament federal government.

Europe’s largest economy has contracted for two consecutive years, hit by high energy prices and fierce competition in China. The next government will need to turn things around and restore German industries.

A series of deadly attacks have increased pressure on mainstream parties that reform immigration and asylum rules and strengthened support for Germany’s far-right alternatives. In Germany’s mind, the attacks in Mannheim, Solingen, Magdeburg and Aschaffenburg are all in fresh circumstances.

Although no other party is ready to get an alternative to Germany (AFD) into the government, if they get second and attract 20% of the vote, they can double their seats in Bundestag.

Germans aged 18 and above will decide on the next parliament from 08:00 to 18:00 on February 23.

The Prime Minister has five candidates.

If the largest party can reach a coalition agreement with one or two other parties, the president will usually nominate his leader as prime minister. Then, the Parliament will hold a secret vote to decide.

The leader in the German campaign is Friedrich Merztheir Christian Democrats (CDU) have a maximum lead of 10 points in the poll. He was elected as a candidate for prime minister before Markus Söder, the sister party leader of the Christian Social Union Bavaria.

Merz, 69 years old and 198 cm (6ft 6 inches), is a common, pro-business, socially conservative man who has spent years waiting on his wings.

Angela Merkel was eclipsed in the CDU in 2002, eventually leaving politics, serving on the investment bank’s board of directors and flying as an amateur pilot.

Merz failed to win the CDU leadership bid in 2018, before losing Armin Laschet, who was the German election in 2021.

Myers then took over the CDU and ran under the slogan “Germany we can be proud of again.”

He has pledged to limit immigration, cut taxes and cut welfare spending by €5 billion to kick off Germany’s faltering economy. He also promised to provide assistance to Ukraine.

But when he tried to tighten immigration rules by relying on far-right AFD votes and eventually failed, he drew fierce opposition ahead of the election.

Former CDU Prime Minister Angela Merkel said it was “wrong” to accept the AFD vote and that he faced large protests. But he won partisan support and successfully left his centrist rival’s year behind.

Olaf Scholz The head of an unpopular coalition leader has been serving as prime minister for more than three years, which has been shattered continuously by relaxing Germany’s strict debt rules.

His government struggled from the very beginning, mainly because of the impact of Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine on the German economy.

Germany became Ukraine’s biggest helper in Europe. Scholz talks about nervous (Turning Point) Strengthening German defense policy and military spending – but he was accused of acting too slowly or too late.

Many in their Social Democratic Party (SPD) believe that he should allow his party colleague Boris Pistorius to run for prime minister.

However, the party has joined conservatives in the past, and although Scholz said he no longer believes in Merz, the Social Democrats remain a potential companion.

Alice WeidelSince its founding in 2013, the 46-year-old is the first candidate for AFD Prime Minister.

She had little chance of winning power, but she became popular among Tiktok’s young voters, and her party turned her eyes toward four years.

Co-led by Tino Chrupalla, the AFD has already achieved its most recent victory in the state election in the eastern Thuringi in September.

Weidel enjoys support from Elon Musk, who says the former Kidman Sachs analyst cannot be a right-wing extremist , because she “has a same-sex couple from Sri Lanka”.

However, she supported the mass deportation of immigrants, embracing highly controversial “immigrants” who wanted to end sanctions on Russia.

Party supporters cheer her on with slogans Alice is Germany (Alice, Germany), sounds similar to the banned Nazi slogan everything For Germany.

Robert Habeck The Greens played a key role in the Scholz administration as vice-president and minister of economy.

However, one of his flagship policies, the phase-out of fossil fuel heating systems in Germany, had to be watered and led to infiltration of government poll ratings.

Habeck, 55, who has provided great assistance to Ukraine, strongly criticized Friedrich Merz for relying on votes from MPs.

The relationship with Friedrich Merz was awkward as he accused the CDU leaders of disqualifying themselves as prime minister, but the Greens could still return to the government.

Like Alice Weidel’s AFD Sahra Wagenknecht Her BSW party is closer to Russia and has established strong support bases in eastern Germany.

Wagenknecht called her politics “left conservatism” and used herself as an alternative to the AFD, supporting strict restrictions on asylum and immigration.

She shared the AFD’s opposition to German military support for Ukraine and was accused of mocking the Kremlin’s narrative in the war.

But she may have a hard time reaching the 5% national threshold to enter parliament.

Elections to participate in the federal government are usually held every four years – the election is scheduled to take place on September 28, 2025, but have been raised due to the collapse of the Soltz government.

Over 18 received two votes.

One is to directly elect members of the federal government in 299 constituencies. The second is to choose a party in one of the 16 states you live in.

Any party that wins a second vote of 5% is allowed to enter the federal government, and they then use the state list to select their members of Congress.

Complex voting rules mean that the outgoing parliament has now abolished 733 seats. This means Germany’s next federal major league will have a total of 630 seats – a reduction of more than 100 seats.

However, the old rules will be preserved. If they win in three of the 299 constituencies, any party that fails to vote 5% can still participate.

Conservative CDU and CSU parties are favorites to win the most seats, but by excluding alliances with AFD Merz, they narrowed their options for potential partners in the government.

This is likely to be a deal with both SPD and green vegetables.

Many in the SPD were reluctant to work with Merz after the migration, but the so-called major alliance between the two parties was considered possible.