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WORLD NEWS Monday 29 october 2018

German governing parties punished in state election

By GEIR MOULSON which includes Germany’s
Associated Press financial center of Frank-
BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s furt, has been largely over-
governing parties lost sig- shadowed by the woes of
nificant support in a state a federal coalition in office
election Sunday that was only since March. The state
marked by discontent with is home to 6.2 million of
infighting in Chancellor Germany’s 82 million peo-
Angela Merkel’s national ple. Two weeks ago, two
government and prompt- of the parties in Merkel’s
ed calls for her administra- federal “grand coalition”
tion to get its act together of what have traditionally
quickly. Projections showed been Germany’s strongest
Merkel’s conservatives political forces — the Chris-
heading for an extremely tian Social Union, the Ba-
lackluster win in the vote Hesse Prime Minister and Christian Democratic top candidate varia-only sister to Merkel’s
for the central Hesse re- Volker Bouffier arrives at a party’s election party after first results CDU, and the Social Dem-
gion’s state legislature. Her of the Hesse state election announced in Wiesbaden, Sunday, ocrats — were battered in
center-left governing part- Oct. 28, 2018. a state election in neigh-
ners were on course for a Associated Press boring Bavaria. The Social
dismal result, running neck- parties in the government going coalition would keep Democrats only reluctantly
and-neck with the Greens in Berlin is clear: people its parliamentary major- entered Merkel’s fourth-
for second place. want less argument, more ity, and exactly what other term national government
Merkel’s conservative objectivity, more solutions.” combinations might be in March, and many are
Christian Democratic Union Projections for ARD and ZDF possible. The election cam- dismayed by what has
was defending its 19-year public television, based on paign in prosperous Hesse, happened since.q
hold on Hesse, previously exit polls and partial count-
a stronghold of the center- ing, gave the CDU 27-28
left Social Democrats, the percent support and the
chancellor’s coalition part- center-left Social Demo-
ners in Berlin. crats nearly 20 percent.
There was widespread pre- When Hesse last elected
election speculation that a its state legislature in 2013
disastrous result for either or — on the same day that
both parties could further Merkel was triumphantly
destabilize the national elected to a third term as
government, prompting chancellor — they won
calls for the Social Demo- 38.3 and 30.7 percent, re-
crats to walk out and pos- spectively. That would be
sibly endangering Merkel’s the worst result in the re-
own position. But govern- gion for the Social Demo-
ment leaders appeared crats since World War II.
keen Sunday to keep the There were gains for the
show on the road. Greens, who were roughly
Andrea Nahles, the Social level with Social Demo-
Democrats’ leader, said crats at nearly 20 percent
that “the state of the gov- — compared with 11.1 per-
ernment is unacceptable.” cent five years ago. And
She said her party would the far-right Alternative for
insist on Merkel’s governing Germany was on course to
coalition agreeing on “a enter the last of Germany’s
clear, binding timetable” 16 state parliaments with
for implementing projects, more than 12 percent.
and that how that is im- The pro-business Free
plemented ahead of an Democrats were seen win-
already-agreed midterm ning above 7 percent and
review next fall will show the Left Party around 6.5
“whether we are still in the percent. Voters have ap-
right place in this govern- peared generally satisfied
ment.” The CDU’s gen- with Bouffier’s outgoing
eral secretary, Annegret state government. It was
Kramp-Karrenbauer, said the first coalition between
the coalition needs to iden- the CDU and the tradition-
tify “three concrete proj- ally left-leaning Greens to
ects for the coming months last a full parliamentary
that we implement.” She term, and an unexpected-
didn’t specify what they ly harmonious alliance.
might be. But only the Greens, who
Hesse’s conservative gov- are in opposition nation-
ernor, Volker Bouffier, told ally, benefited at the polls.
supporters that “the mes- The projections left uncer-
sage this evening to the tain whether Bouffier’s out-