Germany To Hold Snap Parliamentary Elections On Sunday

MOSCOW, Feb 23 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- Germany will hold snap parliamentary elections on Sunday, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

German voters will go to the polls from 8 am to 6 pm local time (7 am to 5 pm GMT) to elect 630 members of the Bundestag. There are 29 parties on the ballot, but only those parties that pass the 5 per cent threshold will receive seats in parliament.

In recent months, opinion polls have shown roughly the same pattern: the clear favourite in the election race is the CDU/CSU union led by Friedrich Merz, with a rating of around 30 per cent. In second place is the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, with about 20 per cent support. In third place is the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with a rating of 14-17 per cent.

-- BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI