According to The Guardian, Germany's Social Democratic Party barely won the national election held on Sunday, putting an end to Chancellor Angela Merkel's 16-year dominance.

According to the newspaper, the party received 25.7 percent of the vote, while Merkel's Christian Democratic Union received a historic low of 24.1 percent, which cited the federal election agency.

With 14.8 percent of the vote, the Greens were the third-largest party, and the party achieved its best performance in a national election. With 11.5 percent of the vote, the liberal Free Democratic Party came in fourth. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) received 10.3% of the vote.

According to the Associated Press, the Social Democrats' candidate Olaf Scholz said the outcome was "an unequivocal mandate to ensure now that we put together a good, pragmatic government for Germany."

Merkel's Union bloc, on the other hand, indicated it would call smaller parties to discuss forming a government.

According to Christian Democratic Union head Armin Laschet, it "isn't pretty." "...We will do everything we can to form a government under the Union's leadership, because Germany now needs a coalition for the future that modernizes our country," he assured supporters, according to the Associated Press.

The Green Party's leader, Annalena Baerbock, stated that the climate catastrophe will be a top priority for the future government and that "that is for us the basis for any talks... even if we aren't completely satisfied with our result."

Two transgender MPs will be the first to be elected to Germany's Bundestag, according to The Guardian. Tessa Ganserer and Nyke Slawik are both Green Party members of Parliament.