German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party suffered an electoral setback in her home state, exit polls suggested yesterday, but could still cling on to a share of power.
Key opposition parties gained further ground on the Christian Democrats (CDU) in the poll, the latest in a string of poor election results in 2011 for conservatives under fire over their handling of the eurozone crisis.
According to exit polls released by TV channel ARD, the CDU won 24 percent in elections in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a decline on the 28.8 per cent they won in 2006.
As expected, the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) was the strongest party, with 37 per cent of the vote, a significant gain on their 2006 performance of 30.2 per cent.
The third-strongest party was the far-left Linke, with 17 per cent.
The resurgent Greens scored 8.5 percent, ensuring their representation in the regional Parliament for the first time. They had previously failed to clear the five-per cent hurdle required to enter the Parliament.
However, the far-right NPD, which has historically done well in the state that has an unemployment rate nearly twice as high as the national average, also lost support.
After winning representation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2006 with 7.3 per cent, their continued presence in Parliament was on a knife-edge, as exit polls showed they had won 5.5 per cent.
Ms Merkel’s coalition partners at the national level, the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP), suffered a sharp rebuke with a paltry three percent of the vote, a result mass circulation Bild slammed as a “debacle”.
Negotiations will now take place over possible coalition arrangements. Many analysts expect a continuation of the “grand coalition” of CDU and SPD that has governed the state since 2006.
However, a coalition of the SPD and the Linke, or even a three-way tie-up with the newly-elected Greens, is also possible.
The SPD has not yet nominated its preferred coalition partner.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s current leader, Erwin Sellering from the SPD, was tight-lipped after the results, telling reporters only: “We will decide what is best for the region.”