Voting under way in German elections

Sunday, 27 September 2009 07:30

Germans have begun voting in a national election in which Chancellor Angela Merkel is seeking a second term.

Mrs Merkel's Christian Democrats are hoping to form a new alliance with the liberal Free Democrats.

The campaign has been overshadowed by security concerns following a series of al-Qaeda messages warning Germany to pull its troops out of Afghanistan.

Mrs Merkel emerged from obscurity four years ago to lead the male dominated and deeply conservative Christian Democrats.

At the time she was seen a potential Margaret Thatcher promising painful reforms to Germany's stagnant labour market.

However, her agenda was seen as harsh, and on the eve of the 2005 election her support evaporated. The Christian Democrats won enough seats but they had to form a grand coalition with their rivals on the left, the Social Democrats.

This time around Angela Merkel has ditched any talk of cuts in the public sector, preferring instead to focus on stability and in keeping people in jobs.

Her campaign has been short on specifics and instead her handlers have concentrated of her role as a kind of mother figure in a time of crisis.

She has spoken of tax cuts, a month to join the free market FTP Liberals, but they might not get enough numbers, and another grand coalition with SPD under Frank Walter Steinmeier is entirely on the cards.