Bavaria election shakes Merkel’s coalition, far-right rejoices

GERMANY - Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian sister party said yesterday it would back political stability in Berlin after suffering big losses in a regional election which their far-right foes hailed as “an earthquake” that would rock the coalition government.

The conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) slumped to its worst election result in almost 70 years in Sunday’s election in Bavaria and Merkel’s other coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) saw their support halve.

CSU leader Horst Seehofer, who is also interior minister in Merkel’s loveless coalition, had hoped his anti-immigration rhetoric and criticism of Merkel’s liberal asylum policies would help his party fend off a threat from the far-right in Bavaria. But his strategy backfired as the CSU, which has ruled Bavaria for almost six decades, bled votes to the farright Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and the ecologist Greens in equal measure.

“We will do our bit to ensure that the coalition can continue to do its work in a stable manner despite some of the comments that were made sunday,” Seehofer told reporters. He was referring to angry CSU delegates who blamed their party’s dismal showing on Merkel’s decision in 2015 to welcome someone million, mainly Muslim, asylum seekers, which has fueled the rise of the AfD.

Asked if his leadership of the CSU was in question, Seehofer said he would not discuss personnel matters in his party.

The AfD gleefully seized on the Bavarian election outcome as a sign of a broader, national malaise with Merkel’s coalition, which has been shaken by a series of disputes, including over immigration, since it took power just seven months ago.

“We are very pleased because the goal for the Bavaria state election was to send an earthquake towards Berlin,” Martin Sichert, AfD leader in Bavaria, told a news conference. “This earthquake happened ... we are now excited to see what the consequences will be here in Berlin.”

The CSU also lost support to the Free Voters, a protest party of mainly conservative independents.

In Bavaria, the CSU will now try to form a coalition either with the Free Voters - its preferred option - or with the Greens who are ideologically distant. (Reuters)