German election 2017: The minor party set to decide the country's fate

Since 1957, there has only been one occasion where Germany has been led by an outright majority and it looks like Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats are on track to share the political stage with a minor party.

There has only been one occasion in Germany's history since 1957 that a single party has held an outright majority.

As always, it will be the politicians in the driver’s seat when it comes to deciding what the nation's next government will look like.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats are once again tipped to share the political stage with the Free Democratic Party (FDP).
So which party or individual will hold the balance of power?

“We are very open for coalitions,” Katharina Ziolkowski, from the FDP, said.

“[But] I must tell you it is better for us to make good policy as an opposition party than bad policy as one of the ruling parties.”

The liberal FDP were wiped out at the last election in 2013 – failing to win a single seat – despite the fact it had long held the balance of power.

"Four years ago the voters have thrown us out of the federal parliament, this is the truth, this is how you need to say it," Ms Ziolowski said.

"And they were right. And we needed to reinvent ourselves and we did it in a bottom-up process, very democratic."

Tipped to finish with 38 percent of the vote, Ms Merkel may need more than one partner to govern. 

But having having ruled-out deals with the far-right and the left, that leaves a so-called 'Jamaica Coalition' bringing together the black-branded Christian Democracts, yellow-branded liberals and the greens. 

The chancellor has expressed concern that voter apathy could favour the anti-immigration cause. 

"There are many undecided people," Ms Merkel said.

"And I want to repeat: this is a big deal. we live in uncertain times, if we look at the world outside of germany and europe. and we must put things on the right track for the future.

"And therefore, I have been especially on the move in the last couple of days to ask everybody to vote."

Share
Published 22 September 2017 5:13pm
Updated 22 September 2017 7:26pm
By Brett Mason


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world