<p>Some 62 million Germans go to the polls in an election almost certain to result in a second term for conservative Angela Merkel at the helm of Europe's most populous nation and top economy.<br /><br />Barring a major election-day surprise, polls show the 55-year-old Merkel, a pastor's daughter from the former communist East Germany and Forbes magazine's world's most powerful woman, is a shoo-in to be re-elected chancellor.<br /><br />The key question to be resolved Sunday in Germany's coalition-based political system is whether her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) can win enough votes to form their preferred alliance with the liberal Free Democrats.<br /><br />If not, Germany is in for a second term of a grand coalition between the CDU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) -- a gloomy prospect for a country dragging itself out of its deepest postwar recession, say many economists.<br /><br />Latest polls put the CDU on around 36 per cent and the Free Democrats on about 13 per cent, just enough to scrape a razor-thin parliamentary majority.<br />The SPD is languishing near 25 per cent, with their coalition partners the Greens on around 10 per cent.<br /><br />"I am certain that Mrs Merkel will be the next chancellor. I do not see any alternative to her. The only interesting question is, in which coalition?" Gerd Langguth, professor of political science at Bonn university and author of a biography of Merkel, said.</p>
<p>Some 62 million Germans go to the polls in an election almost certain to result in a second term for conservative Angela Merkel at the helm of Europe's most populous nation and top economy.<br /><br />Barring a major election-day surprise, polls show the 55-year-old Merkel, a pastor's daughter from the former communist East Germany and Forbes magazine's world's most powerful woman, is a shoo-in to be re-elected chancellor.<br /><br />The key question to be resolved Sunday in Germany's coalition-based political system is whether her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) can win enough votes to form their preferred alliance with the liberal Free Democrats.<br /><br />If not, Germany is in for a second term of a grand coalition between the CDU and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) -- a gloomy prospect for a country dragging itself out of its deepest postwar recession, say many economists.<br /><br />Latest polls put the CDU on around 36 per cent and the Free Democrats on about 13 per cent, just enough to scrape a razor-thin parliamentary majority.<br />The SPD is languishing near 25 per cent, with their coalition partners the Greens on around 10 per cent.<br /><br />"I am certain that Mrs Merkel will be the next chancellor. I do not see any alternative to her. The only interesting question is, in which coalition?" Gerd Langguth, professor of political science at Bonn university and author of a biography of Merkel, said.</p>
