Germany’s election could bring the biggest political shift for a generation – or almost no change at all

This campaign has turned less on actual policies than on loyalties and personal impressions, writes Mary Dejevsky

The departure of Angela Merkel has loomed over this German election (AP)

Excitement and uncertainty are not words often associated with today’s Germany, and one reason, perhaps the main reason, is the way the outgoing Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has led the country for the past 16 years.

Dependable, predictable, even boring are the adjectives that come to mind. And that has been something that many, not just in Germany, have been grateful for; in some countries it has inspired envy.

But all that measured calm may be ending, at least for a while. The biggest and richest European country goes to the polls on Sunday and no one has the slightest idea of who will succeed Angela Merkel, still less what sort of a government it will be. For the first time in a post-war election there is no incumbent on the ballot paper. As many as four in 10 German voters say they don’t know who they will vote for – and a record 30 per cent are casting postal ballots, a number partly explained by Covid-19 precautions discouraging many from going to a polling station.