Berlin-Sana
German voters are casting their ballots today in a close-knit general election in which the SPD poses a major challenge to conservatives preparing for a post-Angela Merkel era.
And Reuters reported that the conservative candidate Armin Laschet is competing with Olaf Schulz, the SPD candidate and finance minister in Merkel's coalition, who won all three television debates for the most prominent candidates.
Merkel has been in power since 2005 but plans to resign after the election, making the vote a pivotal event in Europe's largest economy.
The convergence of results means that the leading parties enter into consultations with each other before embarking on formal negotiations to form a coalition that may take months, which would keep Merkel, 67 years in power, as a caretaker.
The political scene suggests the possibility of a three-way coalition, with the latest voter polls showing the SPD a narrow lead, but the Conservatives have narrowed the gap in recent days and many voters have yet to make up their minds.
The closest scenarios indicate that the winner from the Social Democratic Party and the coalition of the CDU and the Christian Social Union will form a coalition with the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.