German coalition parties suffer blow in regional elections

BERLIN

German coalition parties suffered huge losses on Sunday in regional elections in Hesse and Bavaria amid growing discontent with the government’s policies.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats posted their worst-ever election result in both federal states, and his coalition partners the Greens and the liberal FDP also lost substantial votes.

In the southeastern state of Bavaria, the conservative CSU managed to win 36.8% of the vote, securing another term in power. The CSU’s coalition partner, Free Voters, was set to win 14.7%, according to the projections by public broadcaster ARD.

The Social Democrat Party (SPD) got its worst-ever result in Bavaria with just 8.1% of the vote, while the Greens managed to win 15.4%, down more than 2% points.

The Free Democrats (FDP) took the worst hit with 2.9%, and missed the 5% threshold needed to enter the state parliament.

Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) recorded the biggest gains, and achieved a record result of 15.5%. By increasing its vote by more than 5% points, it became the second biggest party in Bavaria.

Hesse elections

In the central state of Hesse, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) came first by securing 35% of the vote. The party, however, could not win enough votes to govern alone.

The anti-immigrant AfD increased its vote share by almost 4% points, and was projected to come in second with 16.9% of the vote.

The Social Democrats could only win 15.5%, and it was their worst result in this state since the end of World War II.

The pro-environment Greens were projected to win 14.9%, down from 19.8% five years ago.

The Free Democrats were down 2.5% points, and only marginally above the 5% threshold to enter the state parliament.

Sunday’s elections in two federal states were widely seen as a barometer on what the voters think about Scholz’s left-liberal coalition government.