EUobserver: Regional elections spell trouble for Merkel

21 January 2013

The Social Democrats and Greens narrowly won the elections in Lower Saxony, indicating a tougher-than-expected race for Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition at general elections.

Social Democrats and Greens scored 46.3 per cent of the vote and got one seat more in the regional parliament, enough to topple the ruling "Black-Yellow" coalition of Merkel's Conservatives and Liberals (45.9 per cent). At almost 10 per cent of the vote, the FDP exceeded all expectations, after some pollsters cast doubt they would even make it into the regional legislature. Over 100,000 votes came from Christian-Democrat voters, who cast their second vote for the FDP in order to keep the ruling coalition in power. The embattled FDP leader and Merkel's economy minister, Philipp Roesler, hailed the victory in his home state as a fresh beginning: "This is a great day for the Free Democrats in Lower Saxony and for the Free Democrats in Germany. The race has just begun."

The Red-Green victory also strengthens their lead in the upper chamber (Bundesrat) over Merkel's coalition, to 36 out of the Bundesrat's 69 seats. Most legislation is handled in the lower chamber (Bundestag), but the Bundesrat has already blocked some bills over which it has power, such as a tax agreement with Switzerland.

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