German Chancellor Angela Merkel (front) casts her vote in Berlin, Germany, on Sept. 24, 2017. More than 61 million German voters were called to cast ballots on Sunday to pick their Bundestag, or federal parliament, on which a new government will be formed. (Xinhua/Luo Huanhuan)
BERLIN, Sept. 24 (Xinhua) -- The conservative union led by German sitting Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday defended its dominant role in the Bundestag (German parliament) with 32.5 percent of the vote, according to the preliminary exit poll.
The figure fell short of expectations and was nine percentage points lower than in the 2013 parliamentary election.
The Union's main rival, Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by former European Parliament president Martin Schulz, also suffered a big setback and took just 20 percent of the vote, which was their worst election result since World War II, said the poll.
In the last Bundestag election of 2013, Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party with its sister Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) party secured 41.5 percent of the vote.
Though lower than expected, the margin of CDU and CSU will still offer a decent chance for Merkel to claim her fourth term as Chancellor.
Senior official of the CDU Volker Kauder told reporters after the preliminary exit poll that the CDU had reached its expectation for the election, and Merkel will remain in office as chancellor and will be granted the mandatory to form the new cabinet.
For his part, Schulz said the election marked a "historic crash" for the SPD. But Thomas Oppermana, a senior official of the party, said Schulz will continue to be the president of the party despite the "crash" and led the renovation of the party.
According to local media ARD, Schulz said his party had no intention to form a coalition government with the conservative union and "will go to the opposite".
Having served as Germany's head of government for 12 consecutive years, Merkel has long been known for her support for globalization and international cooperation.
About 73,500 polling stations across the country opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT) and closed at 6:00 p.m. (1600 GMT).
According to official statistics, turnout of Sunday's general election stood at 75 percent, higher than the 71.5 percent in 2013.
