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<i>The German parliament's lobby room</i>
<i>was reorganised for the election.</i>

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<i>A centre heated up</i>
<i>by spotlights and speculations,</i>

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<i>where forecasts abound,</i>

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<i>opinion pollsters feel anxious</i>
<i>and the voters' opinions are revealed.</i>

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<i>The SPD had expected</i>
<i>to gain more votes.</i>

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<i>But the real loser was the FDP.</i>

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Undoubtedly one of the reasons
was the fact that the two parties

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in the government coalition

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ran against each other
with unprecedented ferocity.

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Because of the polarization
among the voters,

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FDP voters were pushed
in one direction or another,

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and we were not able to keep them

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in the election decision.

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<i>"Who is in coalition with whom?"</i>
<i>was the night's crucial question.</i>

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As party leader, I would like to say

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that this is the best result

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we've had so far.

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The distance between CDU-CSU
and the SPD

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has been well halved
from over 8% to 4%.

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I don't know

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why there's this discussion
about the grand coalition.

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It is not the solution for the moment.

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<i>The CDU-CSU, the strongest party</i>
<i>despite its loss of votes,</i>

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<i>also kept its options open.</i>

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I always...
I never made a secret out of it

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that I am convinced

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that continuing with the grand
coalition under all circumstances

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should be tied up
with a clear agreement

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on voting rights.

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Just now,

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I got a phone call
from President Nixon,

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in which he congratulated us

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on the election results.

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You can't expect me

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to now triumphantly say
that the slogan

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"It all comes down to the Chancellor"

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was decisive.

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I think in some way
I contributed to this...

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<i>The young union even used</i>
<i>Germany's national anthem</i>

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<i>to celebrate Kurt Georg Kiesinger.</i>

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<i>But only the coalition talks</i>
<i>will reveal</i>

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<i>the reputation of the Chancellor.</i>

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<i>It all comes down to him.</i>

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<i>It all comes down to the Chancellor</i>
<i>It all comes down to the Chancellor</i>