BERLIN, September 27 (RIA Novosti) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats are leading Sunday's election in Germany with 33.5% of the vote, ARD channel said citing exit polls.
The conservative union appears to have won enough votes to form a government with their new allies, Free Democrats, who secured 15% of the vote, according to exit polls, the channel reported.
Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and the Bavarian Christian Social Union will be able to end their current "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats.
The Social Democrats have 22.5% of the vote, according to ARD.
The Social Democratic leader and foreign minister in Merkel's government, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, conceded defeat on Sunday. "This is the bitterest day for Germany's Social Democrats," he told reporters, adding he would lead an opposition faction in parliament.
The Left Party and the Greens received 13% and 10% of the vote respectively, the channel said citing exit polls.
