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BERLIN, Sept. 24-- The conservative union led by German sitting Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday defended its commanding role in the Bundestag (German parliament) with 32.5 percent of the vote, falling short of expectations with a 9-percentage-point gap compared with the election four years ago. The union's main rival, Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by former European Parliament president Martin Schulz, also suffered a big setback in Sunday's election. Meanwhile, the far-right party Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD) unexpectedly made a historical breakthrough with 13.5 percent of votes, and became the third strongest party in the Bundestag. | 
