BERLIN, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Free Democratic Party (FDP) leader and chancellor candidate Christian Lindner has said he hopes his party will place third in the upcoming elections so as to lead the opposition in the legislative body.
Speaking Thursday evening in the "Election 2017 - The Final Round" TV program by public broadcasters ARD and ZDF, Lindner predicted that the Christian Democratic Union led by Chancellor Merkel will once again enter into a coalition with the Christian Social Union (CSU) after the elections this Sunday.
In this case, the rightwing Alternative for Germany (AfD) "must not lead the opposition" and it is imperative for the FDP to win more seats in the Bundestag than the AfD, he said.
Latest polls show a head-to-head race between the AfD, FDP and The Left for the third place, with the Greens trailing behind.
According to the polls a coalition of CDU and FDP, as desired by many CDU and FDP politicians, is currently not mathematically possible.
In addition to the grand coalition, the so-called "Jamaica alliance" by CDU, Greens and FDP is still a possible option for the election outcome.
Lindner and Greens candidate Katrin Goering-Eckardt did not elaborate on their position concerning this coalition option during the televised program.
