German coalition ‘loses key poll’

09.05.10 / News / Author: timepasss

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party and its coalition allies have been defeated in regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, exit polls suggest.

If confirmed, this could see Mrs Merkel’s national coalition lose its majority in the upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat.

The campaign has been overshadowed by the government’s decision to contribute to a huge rescue package for Greece.

Meanwhile many cities in NRW are on the brink of bankruptcy.

ANALYSIS By Steve Rosenberg, BBC News, Berlin It’s only one regional election, but it matters because defeat in North Rhine Westphalia deprives Chancellor Angela Merkel of a majority in the upper house of the German parliament. And without that, she’ll find it much harder to push through the national legislation she wants. The multi-billion euro bailout of Greece may be one reason that voters have turned against her. The rescue package is extremely unpopular with the German public. But it’s not just Greece. Ever since they took power nationally, Chancellor Merkel’s coalition of Christian Democrats and Free Democrats haven’t stopped squabbling – over everything from body scanners at airports to budget deficits. And the more they’ve bickered, the more unpopular they’ve become. The leader who’s been nicknamed “Iron Angie” is suddenly looking weaker.

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany’s most populous state and home to 18 million people, is in the country’s industrial heartland and regarded as a weathervane for national politics.

Ms Merkel had campaigned in the state until the last minute, but the exit polls appear to confirm earlier polls that suggested the ruling coalition was trailing the combined vote of opponents including the Social Democrats, Greens and former communist Left Party.

The ARD television exit poll suggests that Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrats received 34.5% of Sunday’s vote, while the Free Democrats got 6.5%. The same poll suggests the opposition Social Democrats received 34.5%, the Greens 12.5% and the Left Party 6%.

The coalition in NRW between Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democrats and the pro-business Free Democrats mirrored the one at the federal level.

A new coalition in NRW could jeopardise long-promised tax cuts and health system reforms at national level, as Bundesrat members are directly appointed by the state governments, and Mrs Merkel’s majority in the Bundesrat is currently very slim.

The BBC’s Oana Lungescu, in the city of Wuppertal, says this was the first political test for the chancellor’s centre-right coalition since it came to power six months ago.

With the economic crisis dominating the campaign, opponents accused Mrs Merkel of attempting to delay a decision on the hugely unpopular rescue package for Greece until after the poll.

Our correspondent says local councils in NRW are sinking into debt, with rising kindergarten fees, and libraries and swimming-pools closing. She adds that in Wuppertal, even the theatre is under threat.