German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party, weakened by the coronavirus crisis and a financial scandal, was in a heavy defeat on Sunday (14,03,2021) in two regional elections, six months before the legislative elections, according to polls at the ballot box.
The German leader’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) fell in the federated states of Baden-Wurtemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, where it could get the worst result in its history, according to projections by public televisions ARD and ZDF.
In Baden-Wurtemberg, the CDU has so far collected 24.1% of the vote, against 27% won five years ago, and second. Here los Verdes wins the game, with 32.7%.
In the thriving region and heart of the German car industry, The Greens’ victory means a third term by 72-year-old Winfried Kretschmann, the only environmentalist who rules in a German region.
Delicate situation for the CDU
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the CDU achieves 27.6%, up from 31.8% in 2016. In this state the victory is for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), with 35.7%.
The result paves the way for popular SPD President Malu Dreyer to continue to rule with liberal FDP and Los Verdes.
The CDU has been going through “its most serious crisis” since the late 1990s, many political scientists estimate.
The situation is very delicate for the CDU and its Bavarian partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), as they must still agree on their candidacy for the general elections on 26 September.
