Switching stooges.
Germany held legislative election. Screenshots from Politico. As they noted it, these are preliminary results, so the numbers will change somewhat.
What is striking for me is the 82.5% turnout. That's pretty high. Last time it was the 1998 federal election when it was this high. Usually it's between 70-80%.
316 seats are needed for the majority. Merz, the leader of the CDU has the opportunity to negotiate a coalition. The shortest route would be teaming up with either AfD or SDP, but since AfD is labeled as "Nazi" that just won't happen.
Despite the Greens was a disgrace in the last coalition, they got more votes than last time, so maybe they are another possible coalition partner. But I can imagine they take in The Left as well, just to form an absolute majority to push through certain laws if they want.
Question is how strong this coalition would be? The greatest loser is Sholz and the SDP, not just because they got 10% less votes but his government was broken which triggered this snap election. The people don't want him in the government. Despite this, I think it's almost sure he gets back into it.