Conservatives win election, fail to grasp governing mandate

? Conservative challenger Angela Merkel’s party won the most votes in German elections Sunday but fell short of a clear mandate to govern, according to official results. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder staged a dramatic comeback and proclaimed that he should head the next government.

The inconclusive result made it likely that Germany’s next government would be weakened because of the narrow vote margin and difficulties in forming a coalition.

If Merkel is to become Germany’s first female chancellor, she now must find a majority in a coalition that would likely force her to water down finance reform plans. And such a deal might also lead to a dampening of her strong opposition to Turkish membership of the European Union.

The vote centered on different visions of Germany’s role in the world and how to fix its sputtering economy. Schroeder touted the country’s role as a European leader and counterbalance to America, while Merkel pledged to reform the economy and strengthen relations with Washington.

With 298 of 299 districts declaring, the results showed Merkel’s Christian Democrats party leading with 35.2 percent of the vote compared to 34.3 percent for Schroeder’s Social Democrats. Voting in the final district, Dresden, was delayed until Oct. 2 because of the death of a candidate. But that outcome was not expected to affect the final result.

The outcome gave Merkel’s party 225 seats, three more than the Social Democrats; the Free Democrats got 61, the Left Party 54 and the Greens 51.

Merkel’s preferred coalition partners – the pro-business Free Democrats – had 9.8 percent, leaving such an alliance short of outright victory. The Greens, the Social Democrats’ current governing partner, had 8.1 percent; together, the two parties failed to reach a majority, heralding the end of Schroeder’s seven-year-old government.

The Left Party had 8.7 percent of the vote, but Schroeder said he would not work with them. The overall election turnout was 77.7 percent.

Both Merkel and Schroeder said they would talk to all parties except the new Left Party.

Schroeder, written off as a lame duck a few weeks ago, refused to concede defeat, saying he could still theoretically remain in power if talks with other parties were successful.

“I feel myself confirmed in ensuring on behalf of our country that there is in the next four years a stable government under my leadership,” he said to cheering supporters at party headquarters, flashing the thumbs-up signal and holding his arms aloft like a victorious prizefighter.

Schroeder defiantly taunted Merkel in a joint television appearance Sunday night, saying she would not receive the post of chancellor in any deal with the Social Democrats.

“If Mrs. Merkel manages to form a coalition with the Free Democrats and Greens, I can say nothing against it,” Schroeder said. “But she will not win a coalition under her leadership with my Social Democratic Party.”

Asked if he would be chancellor in a left-right coalition, Schroeder answered, “How else would it work?”

If the new parliament cannot elect a chancellor in three attempts, President Horst Koehler could appoint a minority government led by the candidate with a simple majority.