People cast their ballots in a polling station set up at the Museum Moderne Galerie in Saarbruecken on Sunday. (Oliver Dietze/dpa/The Associated Press) The electoral system typically produces coalition governments, but post-war Germany has never previously seen a winning party take less than the 31 per cent of the vote that the Union won in 1949. That was also the centre-right bloc's worst result until now. Given the exit poll predictions, putting together the next coalition government for Europe's biggest economy could be a lengthy and complicated process. Merkel will remain as a caretaker leader until a new government is in place. In German elections, the party that finishes first is best placed, but not guaranteed, to provide the next chancellor. The projections also put support for the business-friendly Free Democrats at about 11 per cent and the Left Party at five per cent. The far-right Alternative for Germany party — which no other party wants to work with — was seen winning about 11 per cent of the vote.
