Mainstream parties struggle to retain voters in a fragmented political landscape.
Germans would be hard-pressed to find a time when their political landscape was as fragmented as it is days ahead of Sunday’s federal election.
For the first time since World War II, Germany’s two traditional political locomotives are set to garner less than half the national vote.
The ruling center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), expecting to tumble out of a four-year term in office—their shortest since the war—are polling at an embarrassing 16 percent, a post-war low.
The once-dominant, center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), in power for 51 of the past 75 years, is in the lead, but with a diminished majority of about 30 percent, a few points below its weakest win to date in 2017, and a far cry from its Cold War election victories.
The rise of smaller parties
The ruling Social Democrats called the election after losing a coalition partner last autumn and a confidence vote in parliament last December.
But the timing of Germany’s political upheaval could hardly be worse.
As the administration of US President Donald Trump offers Russia concessions in return for a speedy end to the Ukraine war, many in Europe are calling for a redesign of the continent’s security architecture, requiring strong governments to make momentous decisions on defense and foreign policy.
