Germans are going to the polls on Sunday for national elections. Opinion polls suggest the outcome will be a new chancellor and, likely, a new governing coalition.

Friedrich Merz, a conservative rival of Angela Merkel, is on track to become the next chancellor, though the far-right AfD is expected to make historic gains.

For Germans heading to the polls for a snap election, climate is not quite as important a factor as it used to be.

BERLIN - Germans go to the polls on Sunday in a snap election called after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-way coalition. This is how Germany's election system works: Read more at straitstimes.

At the heart of the election is the economy, which has been experiencing a downturn. The ruling coalition, comprising the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP),

Germany heads to the polls on February 23. "You tried for three years to implement left-wing policies in Germany. You cannot continue with that anymore, "said Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate for the conservative Christian Democratic Union and its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union.