Polls indicate a rightward swing is imminent, but how the various political parties will finish could provide a variety of ruling coalitions with different priorities.

Meanwhile, those on the outer ends of the political spectrum are expressing frustration with perceived similarities between the two most popular parties.

Friedrich Merz

Friedrich Merz is the leader of the Union parties — the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavaria-centric Christian Social Union (CSU).

He is also the most likely candidate to become Germany’s next chancellor, with CDU-CSU boasting just under 30% of public support.

His time at the helm of the Union parties has been defined by a slow but steady shift away from the liberal mainstream of German politics and towards a more conservative platform. However, his opponents from the right portray his party as ineffectually moderate and tepid.

But the distaste runs both ways — Merz and the CDU have done everything they can to create distance between themselves and the right-wing alternative for Germany.

“I want to lead a government which stops arguing with itself, a government which is engaged in Europe and ensure that Germany’s voice is heard. That can only happen if we’re economically strong, when young businesses have a future, when we have a better education policy, when our country has a stronger voice,” Merz said at a four-way debate on Sunday. “That’s what I stand for – and absolutely not with the AfD. If you want change, then you’ll get that with the CDU.”

Olaf Scholz

Olaf Scholz is the current chancellor of Germany, but is unlikely to hold that office again after the Feb. 23 election.

Scholz led the so-called “traffic light coalition” of the Social Democrats (SPD), Free Democratic Party (FDP), and the Greens since 2021.

Despite polls showing that Scholz faces widespread disapproval from German voters, he was selected to once again stand as the Social Democratic Party’s candidate for chancellor last month.

The SDP is currently hanging around 16% of public support in the polls — third place behind the CDU/CSU and Alternative for Germany.

The chancellor and his party portray themselves as the sensible, responsible political faction standing against the tide of overly emotional politicking from the right.

“‘Never again’ is the historical mission that Germany, as a free democracy, must and wants to continue to live up to day after day,” he said Friday at a security conference in Munich. “Never again fascism, never again racism, never again war of aggression.”

Alice Weidel

Alice Weidel is the leader of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, the most staunchly right-wing party currently contending in German politics.

Her party currently sits in second place in German polls with approximately 21% of public support.

Weidel is running as an outsider candidate who aims to overturn what her party claims is an undemocratic stagnation across the CDU, Social Democrats, and the Greens.

She is also the youngest candidate at only 46 years-old.

Alternative for Germany enjoys the full-throated support of U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has claimed “only the AfD can save Germany.”

This transatlantic cooperation sparked outrage among many politicians and voters in Germany and the wider European continent, who view it as an alarming intervention by the U.S. into foreign politics.

Robert Habeck

The Green Party of Germany nominee for chancellor is Robert Habeck, a 55-year-old political insider who currently serves as vice-chancellor and finance minister.

The Greens’ bid is a longshot — the party is in fourth place with only 13% of public support, according to polls.

Habeck is playing up his willingness to work with other mainstream parties to reorient the national government towards consensus-based solutions — a meaningful offer in an election with few obvious coalition possibilities.

“The situation is too serious and the pressure on Germany too great for electoral arguments. Ladies and gentleman, I’m 55 years old and have lived in a country where security and prosperity seemed guaranteed. This guarantee is no longer so solid,” Habeck told the nation.

He continued, “After the election, we have to work together politically to find solutions together. I therefore request that I may continue to serve Germany, so that my children and your children may enjoy the same possibilities that we had in the past.”

German political parties rarely accumulate the necessary votes to form a single-party government, making coalitions the norm.

But cooperation with Alternative for Germany is still seen as politically toxic among the three other top parties, with all vowing not to include AfD in a ruling coalition.

Merz expressed openness to working with the SDP to form a coalition — an arrangement nicknamed the Grand Coalition that has occurred four times since World War II.

The likely future chancellor is also unwilling to work with more radical parties, such as the Left, which is polling at a mere 7%.