Merkel’s Bavarian allies brace for bruising polls

B E R LI N : Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Bavarian allies are heading for their worst state election result in more than 60 years in a regional vote that is likely to increase tensions within Germany’s fragile government.

According to the latest polls, the Christian Social Union (CSU) should win around 34 per cent of the vote, losing the absolute majority with which the centre-right party has controlled its southeastern heartland for most of the post-war period.

Voting stations opened with sunny weather likely to help turnout. Broadcasters are expected to publish exit polls shortly after 6pm.

One of the biggest winners are likely to be the environmentalist, pro-immigration Greens who are projected to more than double their vote share to up to 19 per cent and overtake the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) as the second strongest party. The Free Voters regional protest party and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party are both forecast to win roughly 10 per cent of the vote.

This could complicate CSU state Premier Markus Soeder’s efforts to form a stable coalition government in Bavaria.

The splintered electoral result could force Soeder, who has ruled out a coalition with the AfD, into an awkward alliance with the Greens.

Divisions between the conservative allies have widened in recent months after an inconclusive national election last year forced them into a coalition with the left-leaning SPD.

Merkel’s fourth and probably final government has already come close to collapsing twice, in arguments over immigration and a scandal over Germany’s former domestic spymaster.