Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) won 41% of votes in the West German state of Saarland on March 26.
This may be an early indication of Merkel’s prospects of winning a fourth term in September’s national election.
Saarland is the first of three regions to vote ahead of the Sept 24 federal vote.
Saarland is traditionally a conservative state with a majority Catholic population. The CDU has governed Saarland for the previous 18 years.
The Social Democrats (SPD) won 29.5 percent, down from 30.6 percent in the last election in Saarland in 2012.
The dip in support for the SPD was a setback in its first electoral test under new leader Martin Schulz. The former European Parliament President has re-energized the center-left party with a promise to tackle inequality that is resonating with many voters nationally.
He hopes to oust Merkel in the September election.
Like federal Germany, Saarland has been governed by a “grand coalition” of Merkel’s conservatives and the SPD and that situation looked likely to continue, as the result left the CDU short of sufficient support to rule alone in the state.
The SPD and the far-left Linke, which won 13 percent, also lacked enough votes to form a left-leaning coalition in the state assembly.
Prior to the election, polls had indicated a left-leaning “red-red-green”’ alliance of the SPD, the Linke and the environmentalist Greens—or even a “red-red”’ coalition if the Greens fail to win enough votes—could have emerged after the vote.
The Greens did not meet the 5 percent threshold required to enter the state assembly.
The SPD, Linke and Greens have discussed refraining from attacking each other during the national campaign. Schulz is trying to win over dissatisfied working class voters with a message of social justice.
A coalition between the CDU and SPD is the most likely outcome for Saarland.
(REUTERS)
