With just three days till polling day, Germany\u2019s election is wide open. Rarely has such a crucial democratic exercise been tinged by so much uncertainty. Never before have Germans faced such a broad spectrum of possible electoral outcomes.<\/p>\n
Angela Merkel is quitting the political battlefield and the army of voters the chancellor once commanded is now up for grabs. Her departure, after 16 years in power, has disrupted a system that once seemed the model of stability.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor so many people the primary loyalty was to Merkel \u2014 and now she\u2019s going,\u201d says Andrea R\u00f6mmele, professor of communication in politics at the Hertie School in Berlin. As a result, \u201cwe have an extremely high volatility among voters \u2014 more than 50 per cent of them are open in all directions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Merkel\u2019s party, the Christian Democratic Union, is floundering, unsure about what to do and where to go next. Its rivals, the Social Democrats, are on a roll, with a commanding lead in the polls. But the SPD, like the CDU and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union, faces an uncertain future. Germany\u2019s old model of two dominant big-tent parties is being replaced by something much more fragmented.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arne Jungjohann, political scientist at the Green Academy of the Heinrich B\u00f6ll Foundation, discusses the key issues at stake in the German federal election on @SquawkBoxEurope<\/a> with @GeoffCutmore<\/a> and @AnnetteCNBC<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/KGx4hiCH8M<\/a><\/p>\n — CNBC Int'l PR (@cnbcipr) September 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n