• Wide angle The heavy heritage of a country weighed down after 16 years of Merkel's government

  • Q&A Germany turns the page at the polls: how Angela Merkel's successor is chosen

"My destiny, your vote."

That is what the pig said about the advertisement inserted by the Animal Protection Association in the main newspapers of the country on the eve of election day.

The little pig did not know, nor did "the millions of pigs, millions of chickens and millions of cows that suffer from poor conditions in the stables and farms" for which he spoke, that

buying a newspaper

, at least in Berlin,

has been in the last 72 hours an impossible

.

On Friday, the city center was cut off by a climate demonstration led by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg.

More than 100,000 people gathered this teenager, to the embarrassment of the candidates for the Chancellery, who have always chosen small places for their rallies to ensure that they are half full.

On Saturday, the same thing happened.

Accesses cut off and police vans so that no one invaded the road where hundreds of skaters had to run and yesterday, the same panorama due to

the marathon

, which, with some 40 kilometers long, turned the city's neighborhoods into beehives.

The Germans have celebrated the party of democracy in a big way.

They have not excluded anyone, not even the coronavirus.

No masks and social distance.

Not throughout the marathon run, not at rallies.

General elections are every four years and these were not just any.

Those of this Sunday have marked the end of 16 years of Government of Angela Merkel.

They opened a new era to which all political parties have wanted to join the streets, also with details for everyone.

In the stalls of

the conservative bloc

that forms the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Social Christian Union (CSU), for example,

bags of jelly beans

were

distributed

, it is not known whether against the bad taste in the mouth that Merkel leaves or to celebrate a sweet future without her. Liberals from the FDP gave out recyclable bags of a perfect size for shopping with the inscription "tomorrow is built today".

In the posts of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), five minutes of conversation and some brochures to read at home were also returned with a detail.

It's not planting time, but your

rose seed bags

were welcome

.

There is no guarantee that they will catch on and flourish red, because the Social Democrats do not know if they will form a government coalition and if it will be entirely on the left.

The gift of Los Verdes also had its grace.

Its militants no longer crochet in assemblies or parliaments, but they do not give up knitting and for that there is nothing better than a bag with plasticine for the children to start modeling their own.

The bait for passersby to approach the Die Linke (The Left) party stall were

packages of disposable tissues

, for "red noses," he put. Help in case of colds and against social coldness, explained the campaign volunteers.

The populists of Alternative for Germany (AfD) have been equally

generous to the electorate

.

The present to approach was a blue rubber duck with the inscription "keep your head above water", because the country is about to drown with so many arrivals of foreigners.

Those of AfD had planned to include a poster with the duckling, but they have been victims of a scam.

A million posters and posters had been commissioned by the match at supposedly unbeatable conditions.

Well, the order never came because the company simply doesn't exist.

The polling stations, open

This morning at 6:00 am (GMT) the polling stations in

Germany

opened

.

Out of them will come a result that will end the "era of

Angela Merkel

".

More than 60 million citizens with the right to vote are summoned to the polls, which will be open until 16:00 GMT.

The latest polls show a slight advantage of one or two points for the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, against the conservative candidate and Merkel's co-religionist, Armin Laschet.

The elections are therefore presented with an uncertain result, after a campaign marked by changes in the polls.

The Social Democrat Scholz hopes to obtain a good result and lead the future government

The Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate for the German Chancellery, the Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister,

Olaf Scholz

, has expressed this Sunday his confidence in a good result for his training in the general elections and in heading the next government.

"I hope that many citizens will go to the polls and cast their vote and make possible what has been shaping up, that is, a very strong result for the

SPD

, and that citizens will entrust me with the task of becoming the next chancellor", he said in a brief appearance after casting his vote.

Scholz went to his polling station in the city of Potsdam, in the federal state of Brandenburg, around 10:00 a.m. (08:00 GMT) accompanied by his wife, Britta Ernst.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

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  • Angela Merkel

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