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Who will replace Angela Merkel as chancellor?

September 1, 2021

Germany has three chancellor candidates in the 2021 federal election: Annalena Baerbock, Armin Laschet and Olaf Scholz. The three-way contest for the chancellery is taking place for the very first time in German history.

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DW Bundestagswahl 2021 Triell Baerbock Laschet Scholz

Some 60.4 million people are eligible to vote in Germany's general election for the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on September 26, 2021. The Bundestag is Germany's main legislative body. Its members are elected every four years in a mixed system of constituency and list voting.

It currently has 709 members from seven parties — the Christian Democrats (CDU) and its sister party, the CSU, the Social Democrats (SPD), the far-right AfD, the environmentalist Green party, the socialist Left party and the neoliberal FDP. 

Chancellor Angela Merkel is not seeking re-election and will end her almost 16-year chancellorship.

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