Waiting for Friedrich Merz's government

The AfD is the second-largest political force behind the CDU/CSU and the main opposition party. The SPD is in disarray after its crushing defeat, but it has a chance of co-governing the country. The Greens have lost momentum as their climate agenda has fallen by the wayside, and the post-communists of Die Linke (The Left) have strengthened after the split, while the liberals of the FDP have been thrown out of the Bundestag, not for the first time.

There were almost six parties in the Bundestag, which would not have given the CDU/CSU and SPD a majority of seats and a three-member coalition would have been necessary