Topic: POLITIK - on March 28, 2011 at 10:48:00 AM CEST
Massive Setback for Merkel: Greens Score Big in Key German State
It is being hailed as the start of a new political era in Germany. The Green Party looks set to appoint its first state governor after Sunday's election in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The result is a huge setback for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
The Fukushima disaster has had, and will have, many consequences around the world. One of the more unlikely, however, appears to be the results of Sunday's election in the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, where skepticism about nuclear power helped propel the Green Party to a historic victory over Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
The Greens doubled their share of the vote to 24.2 percent, according to preliminary results released by the state electoral commission. They are now likely to govern the state in a coalition with the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), which secured 23.1 percent of the vote, down 2 percent from the last election in 2006. In what would be a first for Germany, the Greens, as the senior partner in the coalition, will likely appoint the state governor.
spiegel.de Merkel's party headed for German poll debacle Angela Merkel 'loses key state election' bbc Poll Woe Looms for Merkel Coalition wsj.com German chancellor's party defeated in state election latimes.com German Bonds Fall Before Inflation Report as Merkel Loses Poll businessweek Merkel's party ousted by Greens in state election independent.co.uk
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