The headline in Bild, Germany’s largest tabloid newspaper, today reads: “Schon wieder eine Klatsche für die GroKo-Parteien!” which could be translated as ‘yet another slap in the face for the government coalition parties.’
It comes as the province of Hesse (which houses the country’s financial capital Frankfurt), two weeks after the province of Bavaria did likewise, decided to vote against the government parties, Ms. Merkel’s CDU and the Socialist SPD who are together in a ‘grand coalition’ (the GroKo).
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The German state of Hesse had its state election today. Because they use Proportional Representation, seats match votes and all votes count equally.<br><br>This is what real democracy looks like.<br><br>Credit: <a href="https://twitter.com/HandelsblattGE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HandelsblattGE</a> <a href="https://t.co/e2V1G49vlS">pic.twitter.com/e2V1G49vlS</a></p>— Make Votes Matter #MVM (@MakeVotesMatter) <a href="https://twitter.com/MakeVotesMatter/status/1056652478534615040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 28, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Ms. Merkel’s CDU lost 10% since the 2013 election in Hesse and slumped with 28% in what is the party ’s worst election result since 1966 in the province. Her loss mostly went to the anti-immigrant AfD who took some 13% of the vote share.
AfD leader, Ms. Alice Weidel said: “the AfD is now firmly established in the German electorate. Here to stay!”
One of the swing voters in the region, Mr. Heiko Becker, explained his protest vote against Ms. Merkel’s government: “For me, this will be a protest vote against all this nonsense in Berlin.”
“Things are good for us in Hesse, but no one cares about that. It’s all about going against Merkel nowadays.”
Related coverage: <a href="http://thegoldwater.com/news/40472-Germany-Merkel-s-Guaranteed-Weekend-Hesse-Election-Disaster-Video"> Germany - Merkel's Guaranteed Weekend Hesse Election Disaster (Video)</a>.
Meanwhile, her socialist government colleagues of Ms. Andrea Nahles’ SPD tanked to just 20%, with the Green party almost surpassing them for second place.
The result, the SPD’s worst since 1946, will pile pressure on the party leader, MsNahles, and in the most extreme potential outcome could be the shock that triggers the SPD’s withdrawal from Merkel’s coalition in Berlin, a move that would always force fresh federal elections.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Really striking: age distribution of AfD vs CDU voters in today’s election in Hesse. I remember similar numbers from other elections. The AfD is a party of middle age. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LtwHessen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LtwHessen</a> <a href="https://t.co/2StwyxvOOG">pic.twitter.com/2StwyxvOOG</a></p>— Adrian Daub (@adriandaub) <a href="https://twitter.com/adriandaub/status/1056706392050954240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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“National politics contributed considerably to the SPD’s losses in Hesse,” Ms. Nahles said shortly after the exit poll on Sunday evening in a first reaction: “the state of the government is not acceptable.”
Chancellor Merkel must now hope that her coalition partner SPD remains in government. She was quick to downplay the pending election disaster before the result came in already, stating: “not every regional election can be stylised into a little national election.”
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With it all said an spun…..
She is still the SOCIALIST Chancellor as soon as she cobbles together a few Left Leaning parties to join her. Which will likely take her further LEFT.
The USA should just pull its troops out of Germany and demo the bases and Housing IF they refuse to pay for them. Only then turn over the bases and leave. Don't given them $$Billion in a Gift like we did France that continues to spit in our faces and side with Russia.