Merkel's fragile coalition shaken by poll debacle

BERLIN - The three parties in German Chancellor Angela Merkel's fragile coalition government on Monday were facing up to an election debacle in the southern state of Bavaria.

The Christian Social Union, or CSU, from Merkel's conservative camp, scored nearly 37 percent, a steep 10-point drop from four years ago in the wealthy Alpine state it has ruled almost single-handedly since the 1960s.

And the other coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, halved their ballot box support to 9.7 percent in their worst result in any state poll.

The biggest winner was the Greens, who surged to become the second strongest party with 17.5 percent, while the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, celebrated its entry into the state assembly with 10.2 percent.

The Sueddeutsche daily commented that Merkel's alliance faces "a fight for its survival", following the dramatic losses of the "so-called people's parties" as big-tent political groupings are known in Germany.

Spiegel Online commented that although "the epicenter of the political earthquake was in Bavaria ... the tidal wave could sweep away the federal government".

The punishing results for the CSU and SPD were widely seen as a rejection of months of infighting, mostly about immigration, between the parties in Merkel's uneasy left-right "grand coalition".

The CSU's Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has harshly criticized Merkel and the SPD over their more liberal stance on immigration, repeatedly bringing their fragile alliance to the brink of collapse.

The battles this summer, one centered on securing German borders against asylum-seekers, have distracted Merkel's fourth-term government, which took half a year to cobble together after inconclusive September 2017 elections.

'Resounding slap'

On Monday, all major parties were due to discuss lessons learned ahead of another poll in Hesse state, home to financial hub Frankfurt, in two weeks.

The repercussions are crucial for Merkel who, in power for 13 years, runs again as party chief of her Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, in December.

The Sueddeutsche said that, following what it labeled a new milestone in the decline of German mainstream parties, the coalition now has a stark choice: a return to "common sense, or new elections".

The Bavaria poll result shattered old certainties for the CSU, which has dominated in the state known for its fairytale castles, Oktoberfest and crucifixes on classroom walls.

It must now scramble for coalition allies and is leaning toward the conservative Free Voters who won 11 percent.

State Premier Markus Soeder, 51, conceded the result was "painful", and Seehofer said "it was not a nice day for us" while insisting he would stay on as interior minister.

AFP/AP