Merkel hails election win, says too soon to discuss plans

Reuters
German Chancellor and leader of Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Angela Merkel receives flowers after first exit polls in the German general election (Bundestagswahl) at the CDU party headquarters in Berlin September 22, 2013. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed her conservative bloc's victory in Germany's national election on Sunday as an excellent result but said it was too early to discuss plans for the next government. "This is a super result," Merkel told cheering supporters after television exit polls showed her Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) winning 42 to 42.5 percent of the vote. "We will do all we can in the next four years together to make them successful years for Germany. It is too early to say how we will proceed but today we should celebrate." Her centre-left rival Peer Steinbrueck, whose Social Democrats (SPD) came in second place on around 26 percent, said it was for Merkel to decide now what a future government will look like. (Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Writing by Gareth Jones)