Chancellor Angela Merkel triumphed in Germany's general election on Sunday while her coalition partner, the Liberal Free Democratic Paryty (FDP), didn’t reach the needed 5% threshold to be represented in the Bundestag, the federal parliament.
Merkel Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) won more than 42% of the vote, a level not seen since 1990, the first poll after German reunification.
But even it was her biggest personal victory she was still a few votes short of an absolute majority leaving the Chancellor the need of a coalition partner to govern.
The Free Democratic Party (FDP) suffered its greatest defeat since 1949, beaten by the Green Party (8.4%) and the former communist Left Party (8.6%). The recently formed eurosceptic movement Alternative for Germany (AfD), which advocates withdrawal from the euro currency, took 4.7% of the votes.
“I see the next four years in front of me and I can promise that we will face many tasks, at home, in Europe and in the world," said the 59-year-old Merkel, who has led Germany since 2005, in a televised speech.
She will most likely need to form a "grand coalition" government with the Social Democrats (SPD, her political rival. But negotiations to put together such a coalition could last weeks.