The leader of Germany's conservative party, Friedrich Merz, is the country's new prime minister after winning 28.6% of the vote, beating former chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) into third place.

According to the international press, more than 50 million voters turned out this Sunday to elect Germany's new government.

Merz, 69, is a lawyer and began his political career in the European Parliament in 1989.

In second place is the Alternative for Germany, led by Alice Weider, with 20.8% of the vote, a historic achievement for the far-right AfD.

Although the CDU won, it did not obtain the necessary majority to govern, and it will now be up to its leader, Friedrich Merz, to try to form alliances with other parties in order to form a government.