At the end of the first fiery one-to-one direct debate between Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz and German Chancellor and Social Democratic leader Olaf Scholz, in which both politicians had at times extensively questioned each other’s competence, the leaders were asked to finish the debate with one final sentence. Merz suggested that he had a plan for Germany’s future, while Scholz maintained that a stable government was only possible with a vote for the Social Democrats. What remained largely implicit was that “stable government” would probably mean that the debating warriors would have to put their differences aside and govern together. …

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