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Merkel`s party beats Schroeder`s

Conservative challenger Angela Merkel`s party won the most votes in German elections Sunday, but fell short of a clear mandate as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder staged a dramatic comeback and proclaimed that he should head the next government. If Merkel is to become Germany`s first female chancellor, she now needs to find a parliamentary majority in a coalition that would force her to water down plans to shake up the sluggish economy.

With 298 of 299 districts declaring, official results showed Merkel`s Christian Democrats party leading with 35.2 percent of the vote compared to 34.3 percent for Schroeder`s Social Democrats. Voting in the final district, the eastern city of Dresden, has been delayed until Oct. 2 because of the death of a candidate but it was not expected to impact the overall result.

The outcome gave Merkel`s party 225 seats, three more than the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats got 61, the Left Party 54 and the Greens 51. Merkel`s preferred coalition partners - the pro-business Free Democrats - had 9.8 percent, leaving such an alliance short of outright victory. The result was a major setback for Merkel, whose party was at 42 percent in polls the week before the election.