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Candidate and party profiles

September 22, 2009

Germany heads to polls on September 27. Read about the parties and the politicians who represent them.

https://p.dw.com/p/JlQb
Image: AP

Germany heads to the polls on September 27. The country's two largest parties - the Christian Democrats (CDU) and Social Democrats (SPD) - are currently locked in a grand coalition. And both have said they don't want to continue this uneasy union. Failing a large enough majority to rule alone, they'd each rather pick a smaller party to govern with. For Chancellor Merkel's CDU the partner-of-choice is the pro-business FDP, while Frank-Walter Steinmeier's SPD would pick the Greens for their electoral pas-de-deux. But what about the far-left Left party, poised to become a vocal opposition to whoever will make it to the chancellery?

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