German electorate sanctioned Angela Merkel’s party in two regional elections

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party weakened by health crisis and financial scandal, suffered a difficult defeat in two regional elections on Sunday, six months before the legislative elections.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has recorded “an electoral disaster”, according to the weekly Die Zeit; a “debacle” which shows that “it can not continue like this”, warned Der Spiegel.

In the regions of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, The conservative side obtained the worst results in its history, according to projections at the exit of the ARD and ZDF channels around 10:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. GMT).

In Baden-Württemberg, the CDU obtained 24.1% of the vote, against 27% obtained five years ago; while in Rhineland-Palatinate, it convinced 27.7% of voters, against 31.8% in 2016.

Although the Tories did not start as favorites in these two regional states, led by the Greens and the Social Democrats respectively, recorded a notable decline six months after the legislative elections of September 26.

The cascading revelations about the so-called “case of the mask” and growing criticism of the handling of the health crisis have weakened conservatives.

The CDU is going through “its most serious crisis” since the black box scandal which precipitated the fall of Helmut Kohl in the late 1990s., believe many political scientists.

On this occasion, it is suspected that two deputies would have received commissions for the purchase of masks at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, tarnishing the image of the majority.

On Sunday evening, CDU General Secretary Paul Ziemiak said the party would have “zero tolerance” for “anyone trying to get rich during the crisis”.. According to Ziemiak, the mask scandal “had a strong impact” on the outcome of the regional elections.

About 11 million voters were called to renew their regional parliament.

In Baden-Württemberg, a prosperous region at the heart of the automotive industry, the announced victory of the Greens was to offer a third term to Winfried Kretschmann, 72, the only environmentalist who reigns in a German region.

The coalition with the CDU, which he has led for five years, is often seen as the laboratory for a possible national alliance between these two parties during the September 26 elections.

The Greens, who obtain 32.6%, will thus have a good margin to negotiate a new alliance, with the CDU or with the Social Democrats., or even with the Liberals in a tripartite.

In the region of Rhineland-Palatinate, neighboring France, Belgium and Luxembourg, the Chancellor’s party did not do better either.

Having toyed with the idea of ​​ending three decades of social democratic rule, the CDU fell far behind outgoing leader Malu Dreyer, leader of the Regional Social Democratic Party (SPD), with 35.7% of the vote.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) was the party that lost the most votes compared to the previous elections, obtaining about 8.3% or 9.7%.

Merkel, who was hoping to step down at the height of her popularity, sees her plans thwarted by the difficulties of the CDU and its Bavarian ally CSU.

Two deputies, Georg Nüsslein (CSU) and Nikolas Löbel (CDU), had to leave their respective parties in recent days, suspected of having enriched themselves thanks to the epidemic, by acting as an intermediary with the manufacturers in the purchase of masks.

In another controversy, conservative Mark Hauptmann resigned from his mandate on Thursday after being accused of placing Azerbaijani ads in the regional newspaper he runs.

The controversy comes at the worst time for the conservatives who must soon nominate their candidate for the chancellery.

Armin Laschet, New CDU leader aspires to succeed Merkel although Bavarian President Markus Söder may have the same ambition.

The mask case only makes millions of Germans fed up with the restrictions and they doubt the government’s strategy.

The difficulties in obtaining vaccines against covid-19 have only heightened the discontent, against a background of increasing infections in recent days. Health authorities do not hide their concern at the start of a third wave.

With information from AFP

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