Election Results from Germany and Iceland

A tight race in Germany’s election could mean a long process to decide who will lead the country. Iceland’s election nearly gave Europe its first parliament with more women than men.

Germany Election Results Close, Next Leader Not Yet Known

Germany’s election yesterday was an important one, since it decides who will replace Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has led the country for 16 years. The election results were so close that it may be a while before Germany has a new chancellor. Ms. Merkel became chancellor in 2005, the first woman to hold the position. She was re-elected three more times, serving a total of 16 years. Ms. Merkel has been a strong, stable leader who has guided Germany through difficult times.

Her leadership goes beyond Germany. Many people see her as the leader of the European Union, and one of the most powerful women in the world. Since Ms. Merkel announced that she wouldn’t run again, other politicians have struggled to impress German voters. Armin Laschet is the candidate from Ms. Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) party. Though Ms. Merkel supports Mr. Laschet, he’s had trouble connecting with voters.

Olaf Scholz leads the Social Democrats (SDP). Some people thought the SPD didn’t have a chance in this election. Mr. Scholz has surprised many by turning the SPD into the leading party.

Last night, incomplete election results showed Mr. Scholz’s party with 25.8% of the vote, slightly ahead of Mr. Laschet’s party, which had 24.1%. Both leaders say they’ll try to form a coalition. To do that, they’ll need to join forces with two other parties to create Germany’s first three-party coalition. Once the results are final, the parties will begin to meet, trying to make the agreements needed to form a government. Since both leading parties are trying to form coalitions, the talks could be long and complicated.

Ms. Merkel will continue as chancellor until the agreements are made and the Bundestag chooses a new chancellor. Iceland’s Parliamentary Election Nearly Sets Record

In Iceland’s parliamentary elections on Saturday, it looked at first like women won 33 out of the 63 seats. That would have made Iceland the first European country to have more than 50% women in its parliament. Later, a vote recount showed the numbers to be 30 out of 63, or about 48% female. Since 2017, Iceland’s prime minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, has led a coalition of three parties – her own Left-Green Movement, the Independence party, and the Progressive party.

The coalition easily won enough seats to maintain control as a coalition, but Ms. Jakobsdottir’s future as prime minister isn’t certain. That’s because her party lost seats, meaning it’s possible that the next prime minister could come from one of the other parties in her coalition.