The challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel, Frank-Walter Steinmeier of the Social Democrats, has conceded defeat in Germany's election, AP reported.
Steinmeier told supporters Sunday: "There is no talking around it: this is a bitter defeat."
Projections show that Steinmeier's party - which has been in the German government for the past 11 years - is headed for its worst parliamentary election result since World War II. It captured well under 25 percent of the vote in Sunday's national election.
Merkel's conservatives did well in the vote and should be able to form a new center-right government.