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The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Merkel’s home region suffered a stinging backlash on Sunday when the up-and-coming opposition right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) entered its ninth regional assembly since 2013.
The CDU could still rule as a junior partner in a third coalition with the center-left Social Democrats led by Prime Minister Erwin Sellering.
The AfD moved into the 71-seat Schwerin assembly in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania on Sunday after a campaign was directed against Merkel’s decision last year not to close the German border to refugees entering the country via Hungary and Austria.
AfDs Leif-Erik Holm (L) toasts the Schwerin entry of his party
Merkel herself was in China at the G20 summit on Sunday, a year before the next federal election in September 2017.
From Berlin, CDU Federal Secretary General Peter Tauber described Sunday’s result as “bitter”.
Tough election campaign, but “fantastic” SPD result
The incumbent Prime Minister Erwin Sellering and his center-left Social Democrats, who have governed in coalition with the state CDU for over 10 years, returned with 30.5 percent, after initial results of 61 percent.
Sellering could form his third coalition
That was nine percent more than in the Schwerin state election in 2011.
Sellering said he was very worried about the AfD’s second place, but praised his SPD for its “fantastic” result in one of the “toughest election races” the party had ever held.
Started in 2013 with an anti-EU ticket, the AfD barely missed entry into the German Bundestag this year and had secured opposition bases in eight of the 16 German federal states by Sunday. The last increases were achieved in March in three further state elections in central and southern Germany.
CDU relegated to 3rd place
The result on Sunday referred the CDU top candidate Lorenz Caffier (pictured above with his wife) and his regional CDU conservatives to third place in the Schwerin House of Representatives.
In surveys, the post-communist Left Party is 12.5 percent and the Greens, who have campaigned for the “open society”, with 5 percent, are on the threshold of the 5 percent hurdle that is usual in Germany.
The right-wing extremist NPD has left the 71-seat parliament with 3.5 percent. It previously held five seats, making it the only regional election base it had in all of Germany.
The exit polls also showed the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) with 3 percent also below the threshold.
Selling to Renew Coalition?
Before the election on Sunday, there had been speculation in the media that Premier Sellering might try to form a three-party coalition consisting of his spearheaded SPD and Caffier’s ailing CDU and possibly the opposition Greens – for a ruling majority over the 36 -Seats needed to reach out minimally.
A “bitter†result for Caffier and his regional CDU
The first results show the SPD to at least 24 seats, Caffier’s CDU to at least 15 seats – above the required minimum – and the Greens to four seats.
The populist AfD had 17 seats and the opposition left had 10 seats in the new parliament.
“No Incident” Survey
Sellering campaigned for local issues and urged voters to concentrate on creating jobs in the wind power sector, decentralizing the integration of refugees and balancing pension equality with the western regions of Germany.
According to its electoral commission, the election on Sunday among 1.3 million voters in northeast Germany went “without incident”, but was outweighed by an intense national view of the right-wing populist AfD.
In the entire interior of the Masurian Lake District, many voters cast postal votes.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with its state capital Schwerin was part of the communist GDR until German reunification in 1990.
Since then, Merkel has had her general election in Stralsund, one of the tourist ports on the Baltic coast.
ipj / jlw (dpa, AfD, Reuters)
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