Chancellor Merkel faces humiliating setback in regional election

German chancellor Angela Merkel faced a humiliating defeat on her home ground, which is assured to raise concerns within her Party, Christian Democratic Union (CDU), ahead of next year’s election. A three-year-old party, Alternative for Germany (AfD) is clearly threatening to put an end to the Merkel era. The triumphant AfD pushed Merkel’s CDU into the third place in the regional election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. After a win, the lead candidate of AfD, Leif-Erik-Holm said, “Perhaps today is the beginning of the end of the chancellorship of Angela Merkel.”  

This added to the several setbacks, Ms. Merkel faced in recent election,

• In Baden-Württemberg state election, 2016, Ms. Merkel’s CDU got 42 seats compared to 60 in previous, while AfD won 23, in its first contest.
• In Saxony-Anhalt election, CDU won 30 seats compared to 42 in the previous, whereas AfD became the second largest party with 24 seats and this was their first-time contesting.
• And in this election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the poll shows, while SPD is likely to remain as the largest party, same as before, AfD will become the second largest party with 20.8 percent of all votes and CDU’s share would drop to 19 percent, the worst showing ever.

It is likely that Ms. Merkel would become the next chancellor but with much lower margin and it is important to remember that her strength is very much dependent on the strength of her party as well as support for her within the party.