Watch live: Who will succeed Merkel? Debate night in Germany

Following Angela Merkel's announcement that she will not run for chancellor again, the race for the German chancellory is as tight as it was last before Merkel took office.

Poll after poll shows Olaf Scholz and the center-left SPD rising, with Merkel's conservative CDU and their frontrunner Armin Laschet lagging in voter support. Increasingly desperate conservatives are warning against a socialist takeover.

With less than three weeks to go until voters head to the polls, the local campaign trail is rife with talk of possible coalitions at the federal level. The complexities of Germany's electoral system mean at least two parties will have to join forces to form a majority government. During a 90-minute debate, the three chancellor candidates – Armin Laschet (CDU/CSU), Olaf Scholz (SPD), and Annalena Baerbock (Greens) – will discuss their positions on the biggest topics in the election campaign.

Join us, as our hosts Gerhard Elfers and Sumi Somaskanda discuss the course of the campaign so far, watch the chancellor debate together, and analyze the content and performance of each candidate after the debate.

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