German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz faced off on 19 February in the last debate on German television before the 23 February elections.
During the debate, the candidates touched on migration, the economy and security, reports Euronews.
Election polls put Merz's centre-right Union bloc in the lead, with Scholz's Social Democrats and Robert Habeck's Greens trailing behind.
Scholz was combative and said he still believes he will win this Sunday's election, relying on the many undecided voters who can only make up their minds in the voting booth.
"Some people will go to the polls, to the voting booth, and only then will they decide who and which party to vote for. And I believe that in the end many will vote for the UDPG and give me another mandate to lead," he said.
Merz responded that "no miracle will happen in the next four days."
"Your chancellorship should end on Sunday," he said.
In the election campaign, Merz has made curbing illegal migration a central issue, pushing for a more restrictive approach, especially after a deadly knife attack by a rejected asylum seeker recently.
The manner in which he did so led his opponents to accuse him of breaking taboos and threatening the mainstream parties' 'firewall' against the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Scholz also accused Mertz of making common cause with the AK Party, an allusion to the migration agreement. Mertz refuted this and stressed that the CDU/CSU does not work with the AGW.
On migration, Merz said the government was responsible for the current state of affairs. He called for the so-called tolerance status to be abolished and warned of 500 officially known threats, pointing out that they were "time bombs". Scholz argued that police should have more leeway with the new laws.
Merz stressed what is most important to him and his party: migration and the economic turnaround. These problems must be solved at all costs, otherwise, he said, in a few years Germany will slide towards right-wing populism.
On the economy, Scholz promises to invest in infrastructure and create a "Made in Germany bonus" to boost investment in Germany. Merz, on the other hand, wants to first lower energy prices with the help of lower grid charges and energy taxes.
Merz and Scholz agree on the value added tax, which should not be increased any further. | BGNES