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September's elections: a letter from Germany
The next administration will have to wrestle with the thorny topic of a crumbling EU and the demands from the US for a new Cold War — and sadly, the new government is unlikely to be left wing, reports JOHN GREEN
Long goodbye: Angela Merkel is to leave office after 16 years

THE forthcoming Bundestag — German parliament — elections on September 26 will be a nail-biting affair and the outcome will have repercussions not only for national politics but also for Germany’s role internationally. 

The new Bundestag’s first task will be to elect a Chancellor. Since her election to the chancellorship in 2005, Angela Merkel has been a conciliatory and stabilising figure.

Although her party — the Christian Democratic Union (CDU-CSU) — was the largest in the Bundestag, it never had an overall majority. Throughout her chancellorship Merkel has been obliged to rule in coalition with one or two of the other parties. Her decision to resign this year, after 16 years in the post, has left a gaping hole, with no obvious successor to fill it. 

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