merkel wins a fourth term as chancellor of germany but it's not her c.d.u. party that is celebrating. immigration alternative for germany takes third place in the. parliament for the first time. and it's a night of disappointment for martin and his social democrats with the lowest share of the vote since world war two. part question why for us to do is most of this is art international i'm sean thomas

covering the german election with our special coverage get right to it. all right angle merkel has a security fourth term in office after an election that has brought a power shift in the german parliament artie's election team has been following all of the developments. nikki arran welcome to all special coverage of the german election from here in our studio in the heart of i'm going to merkel has won a full term as chancellor we know that with all the votes now counted but it's been a disappointing night for her closest rival mostyn she said time of celebration for the alternative for germany policy. i.

think this is a big day in history of. these countries to achieve what happened today at six o'clock these are for lucia. thank you all this li the c.d.u. would have hoped for a better result but we mustn't forget that we achieved our strategic objectives we are the strongest party we have a mandate to form a new government and no government can be formed against or without us. thanks to different. democracy now. after losing our. we lost the federal election. here are the official results of the top three parties leading the way at the expected is angela merkel's christian democratic union with thirty three percent martin short son to social democratic party are in second place with twenty one

percent for the main two parties their results look to be their worst in post-war history that's incredible but a strong showing for the alternative for germany party and they're now set to enter parliament for the very first time with thirteen percent of the vote and in one state saxony now the largest party so let's go into more detail about all ghibli the main winner of the day the anti immigration euro skeptic alternative for germany party they will be getting ninety four seats which is almost warm stick that the total in the bundestag you can see behind me now and what a base party leaders are is vital had this to say. the very first thing we're going to do is deliver on our promise we're going to establish we're a commission against. which to look very closely into what this lady has done to.

many voters especially the young are concerned over the party's radical agenda people have turned out to protest in cities all across germany including in cologne and in frankfurt and there's the a.f.d. supporters celebre. to the results inside the head cool to scaring protesters a quickie downside. was. that i was what. i was. this war was easy that's just going to send a signal with a key mainstay movies protest is that i found out tonight and yes thank you thank

god makes me thank you thank you thank you thank god thank god he of a god thank you i was you say oh thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you god thank you god people hey barry thank you very same see your eyes so well and me thank god the a.f.c. and beatrix thank you so i will because in the senate i was and i also are about wasn't for excessive would be what i'm up to see you just get to know the game he was good for nothing you scientists do you have forgotten a little bit in this democracy and there's always a lot of it was a new moment has knowing that he struck a deal to say seizing the ball we still keep chasing this migration responding to

see your oh yes so see this is the little advocacy you know you being told was. only had one on syria to be able to send we did what we were going to do to reduce . i wrote a new but then just the exactly where i was able to go back to her to meet her as i said that with similar types of movements just like this one just like with the national front in france with some supporters in the us with the regs it crowd the anti establishment was that they are actually egged on by requests like i was a was thinking the only way to give the reason to galvanize and i'm trying to get together band together more strongly was sadly the sense i got was in med school thank you the way i was supposed to out how they told me about this. tonight now i want to be on the. beaches want to ride this week the same thing acceleration was over gandhi's no less said the first lady nor you then they lost you then they

might see you was a new way and now i guess being in the a.s.d. camp they was they probably think that they've gone from the loafing at any stage to the smoking stage was headed thank you thank them very thankful that it was their task was thank you and god was saying was that it was not easy i was thinking about what i was people who were they all were going to i was have left the building was the way they have all been quietly a school was about you will say they are protesting now at an empty venue over that was but take a look at what it was the right was celebrating the apple the award was just was a couple of hours ago would i

was excited i was. now as we mentioned also as if it to any party has taken a narrow lead in the state of saxony which is in the aist of the country the a.f.p. is on twenty seven percent that's just a fraction of a percent ahead of the cd saxony is the birthplace of the anti migrant group ikeda movement and a stronghold for the a.f.p. is also being well known for its anti refugee sentiments no dutch journalist juice nirmal it believes the election result could force the government to rethink its immigration policy i think basically it's an enormously psychological breakthrough for the germans itself that the a of d. just became an important part of the bonus track now so there will be now for the

first time in the blue star real discussions about immigration which never happened before and i think this is the most important thing you can say and mrs merkel she made one of the biggest decisions in after war germany by letting in one million people without. the people themselves without any real discussions in the lusaka chitra and she did get an enormous slip in her face because of this and i think it will take more time to really know what really happened at that moment but americal yes she will still be the prime political force in germany but she has to deal. with parties who are told you only on the left side like the liberals and the greens she has to go into politics what's another way around and. that will be

a fairy bath for her i don't i don't see how she could manage this. just over seventy five percent of germany's sixty one million eligible voters costs the ballots that several percent. higher than in the two thousand and thirteen election as things stand idle americal studi your party is on course to win two hundred thirty eight seats in the bundestag out of a total of around six hundred martin scholz and his social democrats come next with one hundred forty eight seats while alternative for germany and parliament for the first time will have ninety five seats so with the shifting forces in parliament and on merkel will need to find a new coalition partner so let's now take a look at the likely path for the chancellor. the german parties really emerge with a solid majority from the elections so when it's over the try to make friends which is not easy after having tried hard to undermine each other's policies during

complaining but the good news is for the politicians you can always see the story we can't keep our election promise because our coalition partners won't let us which is not good news for the voters though you might ask what was the point when you basically get a program that you didn't vote for. there is no guarantee that what you as a voter would like. to see in terms of politics will really turn out there is no guarantee that you will be in the middle of the election and therefore there is no guarantee that what you as a voter want to be transformed into politics will really work out in this way. so what kind of government might germany get so bittersweet results for angela merkel tonight our correspondent daniel hawkins was at that headquarters the c.d.u. let's take a look. at. this if you

become a party. because you know that it is for it. to be the social. big losses if you. think that it is for that. if the as well as the three i look we've come across a lot of local stuff as the other challenge will feel like a coalition with fozzy with she does have differences off the ball to. help out the p.c. playing second fiddle was i have. to pull the stage to see a patient of his but if you look at the many challenges that cause you got the face of the child it will be ok if you had them for a while but this will show that there is a big new challenge ahead of us the a.v. party will be joining german parliament if you want to win back those who voted for the f.t. to find out their concerns and worries never go to the coalition as we mentioned

earlier there were several possibilities here before with the social democrats would be perhaps even up the fall if the lincoln joined coalition that has been ruled out is to play kill us that's the coalition between the c.d.u. we did have across he had a degree but there are always differences as i mentioned all the environmental policy big things for example the bonding to shut out a little bit coal fired power flow that will be something that we've already has a couple was all quite coming in from the free to the quality to all the bodies say the sixty million euros going to crawl schools which any of them is a lawyer in the side. has an audit you are the. politician that would be very much rocky process to go shake up with if we didn't have a product called well in response the boss would himself out she also said let's

think about it to get more of a very much i thought about what what things out take the public want to divide things and thought what a consensus was that a lot of shills to stretch this much hope would like but this site you will help here. cision peaceful might take weeks to months slow what austin should be confident about a politician like christmas. will say she's missed she is the one best bet find a local this is a cost as well a shot for. sixty years that will be cut she's turning fifty film a sudden shot so that in germany assuming she sits out cold coming up we'll take a bold call with help of coal leap forward charles lee foster play in some a summer this year i'll take to be the longest serving child from multiple to small for the job and put it seventy full.

time i remember she was always there i mean i can remember a time when she wasn't like the chancellor and i don't even know who came before her mission a mission to underline that this has only met on us to move on to the mac of a said i think she was elected in two thousand and five for the first time i was like seven she's just been around for ever she's always been an image she's been in power a long time there's a piece of it is when mankind don't have the size also. i've

never been an adult without under american governing. in two thousand and five she was elected for the first time i was only thirteen. a boy from my school died in a traffic accident. when the core melted people died. i went to mississippi for a year as an exchange student. blacks voted obama whites mccain barack obama became the first black president. and i'm all over. america. as the early results started to trickle in on sunday night the social democratic party leader martin shows well he was unable to hide his disappointments. thank

you thank you today's a difficult day for social democracy now. after losing option she retreated we lost the federal election. and the looks on their faces there really said it all it turned out to be the espy's was elected in performance since the second world war on twitter users were quick to add insult to injury caustically congratulated martin so on his high energy count a while the other suggested most mr schultz may not have where lies this was an election and not a local race and there were some hostile comments to what one user describing the s.p.d. for months as pathetic well here's a quick look at what the former european parliament president is best known for

among voters. make europe great again. as we mentioned bottom sos has ruled out keeping the so-called grand coalition going between the social democrats and on the limit. now he will be the main face

of the opposition but how much of a challenge so it will pose to merkel is unclear as he agrees with the chance along so many key issues as our correspondent mark explains choices choices choices to leave or to remain. in clinton micron or less all of them monumental decisions with global reckless caution now it's germany merkel this is should be nice this is not that much of a different take merkel's refugee policy obama then says when i have a clear stance on any refugee limit which is that i will not accept it. and these should cut off the bench and so will those people bring us is more valuable than money that's what europe believes in the same story with europe they want more of it more you rock received more union and more brushed. with germany we

apparently loping europeans who believe trans national democracy is the best model for us to stand up and break this silence up shoots a former president of the european parliament merkel the leader of europe's powerhouse as i think if we do it be ans have our theat in our own hands i'll continue to maintain that the twenty seven member states must work intensively together for our future and to make the two even share a dislike of if not hatred for the man in charge across the ocean orange in that hard to get there are lots of concerns about their gresham of the north korean dictator we need the united states of america as a peaceful power but we have to bring them on the path of rationality and that means diplomatic solutions up. the problem the problem that we have with trump is that he is unpredictable in that sense who should be tool to not even

a pre-election debate can get the two to clash or sparks to fly what was supposed to be a jewel looked more like a jew at the ball and stella killers of appears just doesn't. alter the inflation. staged. they have their mind the difference is this and that but as one german wheat put it the biggest difference between merkel and shoot is the. more i guess the. leaders have been congratulating anglo merkel on securing a fourth term also twelve years in power the chancellor has made a major impact on european politics but not all of her decisions have been welcomed by the other member states.

or of all. europe is being challenged as opposed to testify in the end so as one we germans have every interest in playing a leading role in this world that. look . i don't like it because of this migrant issue she was the one who told to come right i think that it has made me very. we thank you. we. are in the city we have. lived. lives who still do so special is very dear to him from some of the new pushers of the old

german interests their strengths the interests of the individual countries especially recently for not being given. a single good i mean i see a man who is going to make the for the first time college and i was like let's hope you are doing the job so that you are the kind of guy to let's close it goes we really need. such. limited good to get money fortunately germany has joined greece into a lab rat and his turned it into a german colony and through greece of course the socially demolished old europe and its will give right to. the free democratic policy which is in full place and sees its results as a victory and a major turnaround off to

a plunge in popular. in recent years its young leader christian has been credited with this dramatic revival. all of it has been back our. christian linda has spoken he received a raucous reception from what is continuing now is fairly subdued celebration here at the free democrats headquarters here in central berlin a lot of thought going into what comes next now what goes on in those tough negotiations very tough negotiations that are starting almost immediately as to who joins the coalition or how that coalition will be managed now christian linda when he took the stage he said look if you go to applaud every every line that i say we're going to be here all night he is very well received among the supporters of this party the thirty eight year old former dot com entrepreneur it's really dragged this party up from the diabolical state it was in four years ago no it was

that was after it spent four years in coalition with angela merkel they were and nial ate it at the polls in twenty thirteen they took less than five percent they were out of the bundestag in the wilderness for the last four years back now with more than twice what they took in twenty thirty and it seems that a lot of that is being pinned on christie and linda in his successful leadership however how that pans out in coalition talks huge questions to be asked just off the top of my head if we look at greece and potential for a future bailout any potential future bailout for greece the free democrats they would be completely against not but when it comes to trade something that the free democrats are very much in favor of well if you look at big trade deals such as seats or tea tape the green party would be against those so how these two parties are going to come together with angela merkel and her sister party the christian social union from bavaria and form some form of government it's going to be a long tough task ahead and

a lot of the focus is going to be on christian lind. he was being taped prior to this election as a potential new foreign minister in the next couple of angular merkle public a look now with the thirty eight year old former dot com entrepreneur came from and how we made it to the stage this evening. and likely fight scenes in which he then got on the bus in which he would be in

motion also all that i did which was in my mind. well there were a few unexpected surprises while in a particularly unusual election day stunt at the elephant has been films don't think arounds berlin city center. the activists to organize the walkabout say they were inspired by the english expression and elephant in the room they believe that the issue of a referendum in germany is one such elephant and like campaigners say that over seventy percent of people in the country one for them to be focused on the political decisions however the german government has so far ignored their call well the us has live and what was otherwise a lot less election campaign in germany but some of the candidates still made the headlines with a range of striking posters here are some of the most memorable ones.

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