Germany - Local Polls

Merkel's party suffers setback

Article published on the 2009-08-31 Latest update 2009-08-31 11:18 TU

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C), leader of the CDU at party leaders' meeting, Berlin, 31 August 2009.
(Photo: Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel awaits final results from three local elections where her CDU party fared less well than she would have liked in two states. Her plate is full with general elections four weeks away, and the G20 summit just days before.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative party suffered a setback Sunday a month before general elections, with preliminary results indicating it will lose control in two states. Some 6.2 million voters were eligible to cast ballots in the state elections.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) held onto power in the eastern state of Saxony but according to early results on public television, the CDU's share of the vote fell by more than 10 per cent in both Thuringia and Saarland, where the state premiers are both currently from the CDU. In Saxony, the CDU's share of the vote remained virtually the same at about 41 per cent.

Merkel is hoping to win a second term in the general election on 27 September. Her CDU is in the lead in the opinion polls with a lead of about 15 per cent over the rival Social Democrats (SPD).

The SPD's candidate for the Chancellor's post in the general elections Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is also deputy chancellor and foreign minister, expressed confidence that the weekend elections would help turn the tide in his favour. "Those who said that the election was already decided have made a big mistake," he told cheering supporters.

CDU general secretary Ronald Pofalla acknowledged disappointment at the elections' outcome but said the Social Democrats would gain no momentum from them for the national poll. "We were the strongest party in all three states and left the SPD behind us in all three."

The SPD may now be able to form coalitions in Thuringia and Saarland with the Greens and the far-left Die Linke, a relatively new party comprised of disaffected SPD members and former East German communists. Saarland would be the first western state to see such a governing alliance.

Merkel, who grew up behind the Iron Curtain, warned in regional campaign appearances against the rise of Die Linke as Germany marks 20 years since the Berlin Wall's collapse.

Newspapers played down the significance of the state results. "Interpreting this setback (for Merkel) as a clear signal of a turnaround in the battle for Berlin in four weeks is wide of the mark," the Financial Times Deutschland said in an editorial.

Meanwhile, the far-right National Democratic Party, which stunned the country by scoring 9.2 percent in Saxony in 2004, appeared to manage for the first time to be re-elected to a state parliament by just clearing the five-percent hurdle required for seats.

Merkel has a lot on her plate, as she prepares both for the general elections at home and the G20 summit in the US on 24 to 25 September, just two days before. On Monday, she's hosting French President Nicolas Sarkozy for preparative talks ahead of the economic forum.