German Social Democrats (SPD) in pole position to lead

The German population are voting today in a general election that will bring the Angela Merkel near 16-year era to an end. Merkel was Germany’s first female chancellor and its first leader to have been raised in the former East Germany.

Meanwhile, final polls showed a close race between the centre-left Social Democrats and the conservative CDU/CSU camp.

Germany's Social Democrats came first by a narrow margin in Sunday's national election, projected results showed, putting them in pole position to lead a government for the first time since 2005 and to end 16 years of conservative-led rule under Angela Merkel.

''The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) were on track for 25.5% of the vote, ahead of 24.5% for Merkel's CDU/CSU conservative bloc, projections for broadcaster ARD showed, but both groups believed they could lead the next government,'' Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, Merkel is expected to be around for a while yet in a caretaker capacity as polls indicate three parties may need to reach a deal on a coalition to have a majority in parliament.

See – German Elections Preview: Three EUR/USD scenarios for the post-Merkel dawn