German chancellor candidates face off in last debate before election

With Germany’s elections less than a week away, the top three candidates to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor faced off for a third TV debate. Opinion polls show the SPD maintaining their strong lead over the conservative CDU-CSU bloc. But the Green party, which is in third place, may turn out to be the kingmakers in the election. Last night’s debate was a solid performance from all sides, focusing mainly on domestic issues. And despite the looming election day deadline, there was little drama on the debate stage. Germany traditionally has high turnout for federal elections with more than seventy percent of eligible voters regularly casting their ballot for a new national government. But one of Germany’s voter blackspots is a district in the town of Duisburg where almost eighty percent of those eligible did not vote in recent elections.