Election 2009

Germany's next general election will be held on Sept. 27. The contest is emerging as a face-off between the two grand coalition partners - the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, and the Social Democratic Party (SPD), whose candidate for chancellor is Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Merkel has stated that it's her goal to win a majority for the conservatives (made up of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union), and their traditional coalition partner, the free-market liberal FDP. Opinion polls indicate that the CDU/CSU and FDP together hold a substantial lead over the SPD and their usual coalition partner, the Greens. But the SPD has overcome similarly large gaps in the past and is determined to do so again. Click on the links below for DW-WORLD.DE's election coverage.