Germany Election: Merkel Suffers Further Blow in Hesse
Both the parties in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition have suffered heavy losses in a regional election, early results show.
Her centre-right CDU party and the centre-left SPD were each 10% down on the previous election in Hesse state.
SPD leader Andrea Nahles said the federal government’s poor performance had “significantly” contributed to the disappointing result.
She told reporters the state of the government was “unacceptable”.
The federal government must find a “reasonable way of working”, after what looks to be the SPD’s worst result in the western state since 1946.
The CDU must agree to a “clear, binding roadmap” ahead of a scheduled coalition review next year. “Then we’ll be able to check whether this government is still the right place for us,” she said.
Both the CDU and the SPD have seen their support slip nationally in recent months, and the coalition has already come close to collapse.
“The message to the parties ruling in Berlin is people want fewer disputes and more focus on the important issues,” state premier and CDU member Volker Bouffier told supporters.
Meanwhile the left-leaning Greens surged into third place in the Hesse regional government, with about 19.5%.
And the far-right AfD will enter the regional assembly for the first time, having secured about 12% of the vote.