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(CNN) -
Germany's left-wing Social Democratic Party (SPD) celebrates a narrow lead in exit polls released after voting ended in Germany's federal elections, but the bottom line of the tight race remains. uncertain.
An exit poll by CNN affiliate Forschungsgruppe Wahlen for n-tv suggested that the SPD had 25.7% of the vote, with the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel with the 24 , 6%, followed by the Greens with 14.4% and the FDP with 11.7%.
% and the AfD at 10.7%.
The narrow margins mean that the German elections are at this point too tight to give a winner and predict the next government, and the chancellor, is impossible.
A large number of votes by mail also remains to be counted.
Whichever party comes to the fore, lengthy coalition negotiations are expected before a government can be formed.
But for the SPD, coming out on par with the CDU counts as a significant gain.
The left-wing party obtained 20.5% of the votes in the last general elections of the country, in 2017.
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"The voters have decided that the Social Democratic Party has won, and this is a great success," SPD leader Olaf Scholz said in remarks from his party headquarters.
Scholz said voters wanted him to be the next chancellor.
"Many citizens have marked the side of the SPD because they want a change of government and also because they want the next chancellor of this country to be named Olaf Scholz."
The 63-year-old politician has served as German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister in Merkel's grand coalition government since 2018, earning him greater visibility as he navigated Germany's economic response to the pandemic.
"Pragmatism, optimism, unity, that is what we will show because that is what counts, and I am sure that the citizens will also be happy after the elections for their decision," Scholz added.
Loud applause and cheers from jubilant party supporters interrupted him as he spoke.
"Now we will wait for the final result, but then we will get down to work. Thank you!" Said Scholz.
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Robin Fugmann, 20, a fervent Scholz supporter, told CNN that he was delighted with the results thus far.
"It's really an amazing result, people believe in Olaf Scholz, people believe that Armin Laschet really can't lead this country," he said.
"So we really have a mandate to lead a new government, I hope we do. And first of all, we are going to celebrate because this is a really amazing result."
Olaf Scholz greets the SPD headquarters after the estimates were broadcast on television, in Berlin.
Armin Laschet makes a face when commenting on the outcome of Sunday's Bundestag elections.
CDU leader: the party 'cannot be happy'
By contrast, the mood at CDU headquarters was dejected when initial exit polls emerged.
They suggest that the CDU, with its sister party, the Christian Social Union in Bavaria, could be seeing the worst result in the alliance's history, with its share of the vote potentially less than 8% since 2017.
The party "cannot be content with this result," CDU leader Armin Laschet told supporters, although he noted that the final result was unclear.
"We can foresee that there could be a government with three parties," he said, as he indicated that the party "would do everything possible to try to build a coalition."
Laschet added that the CDU had "a mandate against a leftist government."
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The party had campaigned with a message of stability for the country after Merkel, considered a steady pair of hands for the past nearly 16 years, resigned.
But now he comes to terms with what he himself called a bitter night of loss.
"When we look at how we lost compared to the last election, it is bitter for us," CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak told CNN in an interview at party headquarters.
"But it is also clear that after the numbers there is still no clear vision of who is ahead and exactly how," he said.
"The question is, who can form a stable government, form a coalition for the future, for this country? We have many problems to address - climate protection, innovation - but we also have to guarantee stability and social security, that I believe that a coalition of the CDU / CSU, the Greens and the FDP could do well, and that is what we will talk about in the next few days. "
Deborah Piraba, a 27-year-old law student and young Christian Union Democrat, told CNN at the CDU headquarters that the results were "disappointing" but nothing had been lost yet.
"We have to consider that we are dating Angela Merkel for 16 years, of whom I am a great admirer. I am already sad that she is leaving the office," he commented.
"We called her Mutti (mom), she knew how to talk to people and she has the connection with people and she has done a lot for Germany. This made her so special compared to other politicians. I will also miss her sense of humor."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel with leading CDU members applauding on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the crowd at the Green Party headquarters in Berlin cheered as the first exit polls were read.
"We have led a campaign like we have never experienced before in this country, twenty-four hours a day, until the last second last night," Greens leader Annalena Baerbock said as she thanked party supporters.
Environmental concerns and economic concerns have emerged as key themes in the campaign, with the former fueled by the deadly floods that devastated parts of Germany this summer.
Baerbock attributed the success of his party to new and young voters.
"This momentum from the markets, from so many [people] who joined our party in recent years, has led to this best all-time result," he said.
But, Baerbock added, the party had "wanted more" and had not done better in part because of mistakes made by her during the season.
AfD's top chancellor candidate Alice Weidel put on a brave face after projected election results showed support for the far-right party fell 2.6% since 2017.
"We are in the two figures, we have been able to assert ourselves," he said, according to Reuters.
"This claim that we would leave parliament after a legislative term has completely failed and we are very, very happy."
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Will there be a grand coalition?
The outgoing government remains in office as an interim government until it is replaced by a new government.
Merkel, 67, will retire and the new chancellor will take the reins.
Even if the end result changes the distribution of votes, the basic fact is that "after 16 years in power, almost 76% of Germans have not voted" for Merkel's party, said CNN commentator Dominic Thomas.
Neither the CDU nor the SPD will have a real chance to create a coalition, he added.
"If it is the SPD that is leading the way, the only way forward is to talk to three parties that will probably involve the Greens and the FDP. And it is quite a difficult task trying to bring them all together," he commented.
Exit polls indicate a move to the center and center left, he added, reflecting the concerns of a younger electorate.
"It is clear that the momentum is moving more towards issues that concern social welfare, green politics," Thomas said.
Negotiations to form a coalition government could take weeks or even months.
It took more than five months after the September 2017 elections for a government to be formed with Merkel.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, Salma Abdelaziz, Nadine Schmidt and Stephanie Halasz reported from Berlin and Laura Smith-Spark wrote from London.
CNN's Nina Avramova, Inke Kappeler, and Aditi Sangal contributed to this report.
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