Will There Be Victory For 'Mutti'?
Updated: 11:19pm UK, Friday 20 September 2013
By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent, in Berlin
The elections in Germany this weekend could produce a Pizza, a Jamaican or a Lebanon, but "Mutti" is still likely to be in charge.
With a system of proportional representation, two ballots per person and little difference between the main parties, political analysts have been focusing on the possibility of a new coalition.
Although the CDU/CSU alliance, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to take the largest share of the vote, the collapse in support for its liberal coalition partner FDP means the existing government may not survive.
That has thrown up a number of possible coalition permutations, which have been given bizarre names mostly based on the combination of the party colours.
So a combination of the CDU, the Free Democrats and the Greens has become known as the "Jamaica coalition", echoing the various hues on the national flag.
A "traffic light" would be a link up between the main opposition Social Democrats, the FDP and the Greens, and so on.
It just hints at the complexity of the German electoral system which allows each voter to make two choices: one for a local representative and another for their choice of party.
The second vote has become known as the vote for chancellor, but it increases the scope for tactical voting, especially as the FDP has been fading at the polls.
For a party to be represented in the Bundestag, it must achieve at least 5% of the overall vote.
At a recent local election in Bavaria - admittedly a conservative heartland - the FDP saw its vote disintegrate, leading some to predict it could come perilously close to being kicked out of the national parliament.
Meanwhile another new party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has been stealing support from disaffected CDU voters, who have tired of the euro crisis and want to see a return to the Deutsche Mark.
If it gains a foothold in the national parliament, it could make it nearly impossible for the CDU to govern without a Grand Coalition between Ms Merkel's CDU and the opposition SPD.
That was the outcome after the election in 2005 when Ms Merkel first became chancellor, but her relationship with the SPD leader Peer Steinbrueck has soured since he was her first finance minister.
That red/black combination is the one most favoured by German voters, but not by the parties' top brass.