Why the German election matters to the world

AS Germany prepares to go to the polls on Sunday, the nation's political landscape is in ferment with a record number of voters undecided who to vote for in what could be a pivotal ballot.

With Angela Merkel coming to the end of her long chancellorship, polls show that around two-fifths of the electorate are still undecided, a massive jump from around one-fifth at this stage in 2013. The most important reason for voter indecision, according to German voters, is that none of the top candidates running to replace Dr Merkel is convincing nor credible enough with the electorate.

She has left "big boots to fill" as Europe's longest serving female leader having been head of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) since 2000 and chancellor for more than a decade and a half. In fact, with her full fourth term now almost completed, she sits only behind Otto von Bismarck, in terms of her longevity as German leader - Bismark had served for almost two decades from 1871-90.