Zowel Merkel als Schröder claimen kanselierschap na onbesliste Duitse verkiezingen (en)

The conservative CDU party led by Angela Merkel emerged as the narrow winner in Sunday's (18 September) German elections, but chancellor Gerhard Schroder has claimed he will continue to lead the country.

Official figures on Monday showed the CDU and it's Bavarian sister party CSU gaining 35.2 percent of votes, just slightly ahead of the social democrat SPD party led by the current chancellor Schroder, which won 34.3 percent.

The difference between the two leading German parties amounts to just 3 seats in parliament, and this margin could shrink even further, following a delayed vote in the city of Dresden, which will vote only on 2 October following the earlier death of one of the candidates.

Both Ms Merkel and Mr Schroder claimed the leadership of the EU's most populous country yesterday evening.

Ms Merkel said that "We are the strongest force and we want to take up the formation of a government", according to Spiegel Online.

But Mr Schroder called the CDU result "disastrous" and depriving it of any credibility to form a government, after Ms Merkel's faction had been projected to win around 42 percent of votes in opinion polls.

Despite coming second, Mr Schroder said "I feel I have been confirmed to take care of this country in building a stable government under my leadership for the next four years", adding that "no-one" except himself would be capable of forming a "stable coalition", according to Die Welt.

Liberals and Leftists win seats

Both the CDU and SPD lost votes compared to the 2002 elections, slipping 3.3 and 4.2 percentage points respectively.

In the meantime, the liberal FDP and the newly formed Left Party were the winners of last night's poll.

The FDP won 2.4 percentage points, ending up at 9.8 percent, while the Left Party - a fresh coalition of former social democrats and ex-communists from the east - secured 8.7 percent.

The liberals and the Left party kicked the Greens, the current junior coalition party in the Schroder government, off their position of being the third party in the German parliament.

The Greens ended up at 8.1 percent, down 0.5 points.

Two losers produce coalition deadlock

German media highlight the fact that Sunday's poll effectively produced two losers - Mr Schroder and Ms Merkel.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung states in a comment that Ms Merkel's possible chancellory "has ended before it has even started", while Spiegel Online terms the outcome as a "bitter hour" for the CDU leader.

But more conservative papers such as FAZ and Die Welt note that Mr Schroder, who had called for the early elections, also missed his goal to secure a new mandate for his red-green coalition.

The result has produced an unclear and unstable political situation in the country, as many coalitions seem to be possible - but all parties have so far categorically refused to co-operate in possible coalitions.

The red-green coalition in Sunday's election lost its majority, losing many votes to the Left party.

However, Ms Merkel's bad result means that there is no majority for a conservative-liberal coalition either - favoured by both parties as the best coalition to push through far-reaching economic reforms.

Both SPD and Greens have so far refused to have any dealings with the Left party, which comprises ex-communists from the eastern part of the country - making a new centre-left coalition impossible.

Mr Schroder last night stressed that his party would not enter a "grand coalition" led by Ms Merkel either.

A "traffic light" coalition with SPD, Greens and Liberals could be one way out of the deadlock - but so far the Liberals have consistently refused to enter a red-green government.

For their part, leading Greens said last night that they will not help a conservative-liberal government to a majority.

Fini sees instability

Meanwhile, Mr Schroder yesterday received backing from fellow social democrat prime ministers elsewhere in the EU.

The Czech prime minister Jiri Paroubek and his Swedish counterpart Goran Persson backed Mr Schroder in his claim for the chancellory.

But the Italian foreign minister Gianfranco Fini stated that "From the poll, an uncertain political message emerges, with an instability that will definitely not help the country", according to Spiegel Online.

French politicians reaffirmed the need for strong Franco-German co-operation.

French Europe Minister Catherine Colonna said that "The German-French duo will remain the motor behind the European construction, whoever governs in Berlin and Paris".

Paris' defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie stated "I do not see why there would not be a good relationship between Angela Merkel and president Chirac".