Deutsch Election Results

Gerhard Schroeder has been ousted as chancellor of Germany, to be replaced by Angela Merkel. Merkel's party didn't win the decisive victory that I had hoped she would, but getting Schroeder out of the hot seat is a good development.

UPDATE: Apparently Gerhard Schroeder won't concede.

BERLIN — Exit polls showed conservative challenger Angela Merkel's party leading in German parliamentary elections Sunday but falling short of the majority she needed to form a center-right coalition as the nation's first female chancellor.

Gerhard Schroeder refused to concede defeat and said he could still theoretically remain in power if talks with other parties were successful.

"I feel myself confirmed in ensuring on behalf of our country that there is in the next four years a stable government under my leadership," he said to cheering supporters at his Social Democrat party headquarters.

But Merkel claimed her party received a mandate from voters to form a new coalition government to carry out her plan to mend frayed ties with the United States.

"What is important now is to form a stable government for the people in Germany, and we ... quite clearly have the mandate to do that," she said.

I'm not surprised that Schroeder's acting like Al Gore did in 2000, refusing to concede. It's obvious to most international observers that Germany's in a pretty lousy state right now. Their unemployment rate is as bad as it was right after World War II, they have no international prestige, and their ties with their most powerful ally (America) are strained from no bigger cause than Schroeder's own political pandering to anti-American sentiment. It's time for new leadership, and I commend the Deutsch people for ousting Schroeder. He's done no good for them.

Now, let's hope they can get him to admit that he's lost, and step aside gracefully. (I know, I'm not counting on it either; just be patient.)

(Link via Bane.)