It is difficult for the Germans to find a period of time that their political landscape was dispersed before Sunday’s federal election.
For the first time since World War II, two traditional political locomotives in Germany will receive less than half of the national vote.
The ruling Social Democratic Party of the Central Left (SPD) is expected to be inverted for a four-year term since the war (their shortest) term, an embarrassing 16% post-war low.
With 51 years of rule over the past 75 years, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has led the way, but the majority has dropped by about 30%, down from its weakest victory to date. 2017 is far from the victory of the Cold War election.
The ruling Social Democrats convened the election after losing their alliance partners last fall and voting in parliament in December.
But the timing of political turmoil in Germany is almost impossible to worsen.
As U.S. President Donald Trump's administration offers Russian offers in exchange for the rapid end of the Ukrainian war, many in Europe are calling for a redesign of security buildings on the African continent, demanding a strong government to do on defense and foreign policy Make a major decision.
More than half of Germany's votes will be cast in small parties on the left and right. The lion's share (about 20%) is a far-right alternative to going to Germany (AFD), which promises to expel the euro and bring back the German Mark, which will transition to clean energy, abandon immigration, and possibly bring Germany out of the EU altogether.
"People say it's the last chance for the Liberal Democrats, they say that ensuring the next government is the functional government that produces results," Christian Schlaga, a retired German diplomat, told Al Jazeera.
"The next government will have to prove that they can do that, especially when it comes to immigration," Schraga said. "If they fail like the last government, then people would say that it is the basis for the election of the AFD."
During the heyday of the 1960s and 1970s, CDU and SPD jointly received about 90% of the vote, with little room for anyone else.
As Germany's political landscape became more diverse, this situation began to change in the late 1990s. The Left Wing Green was founded in 1993, Die Linke in 2007 and AFD in 2013. All were eaten on CDU-SPD voters.
“If the (CDU) score is below 30%, it is a failure for the CDU,” Jens Bastian, an economist at the German Institute for International Security Affairs, told Al Jazeera, adding that For SPD, the situation is even more terrible.
“We have only one party left, seeing 30% success as … For SPD, if you are close to 20, it will be successful.”
Immigration has quickly become the first problem during the campaign, partly due to a series of deadly attacks committed by foreign nationals over the past few months.
A Saudi national ploughed a rented SUV at the Christmas market in Magdeburg last December, killing six people and injuring 200 people.
Last month, on January 22, a psychopath who was waving a knife killed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man who tried to be in an Akaffenburg near Frankfurt Protect him in the park.
Last week, another Afghan asylum seeker killed a 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter on February 13, when he drove a car into a trade union protest in Munich.
These and early attacks have left Germany indignant of immigrants who are not in line with their stay in Germany but have not been deported or have not yet integrated with German society and values.
As the Trump administration says, the U.S. Department of Defense is openly calling for the deportation of large numbers of immigrants, including legal residents and even citizens, just like in the United States.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz called for strengthening border controls, increasing police power to arrest people, and slowing down or blocking family unity for legal immigrants in families.
SPD and Greens refused to work with Merz and said it was on the far right.
The Germans also believe that after years of underinvestment, especially railways and bridges, their infrastructure will collapse, but the constitutional requirement for balancing budgets has relaxed their constitutional requirements due to concerns that this would lead to uncontrolled spending.
Some observers believe that German society is not prepared for the difficult economic decisions in the future.
"The union demands an 8% increase in wages, and in a country where workers already have six weeks off, three days of vacation is also required," Schlaga said. "This does not reflect the reality of the day, and people do not accept it."
SPD Prime Minister Olaf Scholz said he favors relaxing fiscal rules and spending more on stimulating the economy and defense, but Merz expressed his reluctance to borrow more or raise taxes.
The Ukrainian war increased energy costs and caused inflation in Germany and anywhere else in Europe, but damaged the German economic base of manufacturing and industry, especially severe.
The German Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chamber of Commerce said the German economy is expected to sign 0.5% in 2025, its third consecutive annual contraction, the longest post-war recession. “This is a turning point that emphasizes the urgent need for action,” said Helena Melnikov, managing director of the Chamber of Commerce.
That has a knock effect. The VDP Banking Association estimated real estate prices this month fell 5.4% last year, four years.
A recent survey showed that 70% of Germans were worried about the cost of living and similar profit margins were worried about further declines.
New jobs stagnated in December despite the unemployment rate below 3.2%, while industrial production in Germany was 2.4% in December, compared with November, four times the forecast, according to the latest federal data. , four times the prediction.
"Politicians are not telling the truth about the number of challenges ahead," Schlaga said. "Scholz is assured that their socioeconomic status will not change. Myers told people that we don't have to raise the debt brake significantly, but we All expenses will be processed in some way.”
Germany has a parliamentary system, which means that the parties' parties or alliances have held a majority of 630 seats and are about to take office.
It is expected that either side will have enough votes to win 616 seats and dominate the majority, so it is likely that a coalition is necessary.
Prime Minister Merz once said he wanted to choose to work with any of the three strong men. He would rather avoid the tripartite alliance, which some blamed on the depravity of the Social Democratic Party.