Weakened, Angela Merkel plays a lot in the regional elections in Hesse

Angela Merkel's governing coalition could have another setback this Sunday in the elections in the wealthy region of Hesse, which would further weaken the chancellor, exhausted after 13 years in power.

Two weeks after the elections in Bavaria, which produced catastrophic results for the conservatives of the CSU, a defeat of Merkel's party in Hesse, where is Frankfurt, the financial capital of the country and seat of the European Central Bank (ECB), this could revive the debate on its future.

If the last polls, which gave rise to its formation, the CDU (Christian Democrat Union), between 26 and 28% of the voting intentions, were lost, the party would lose ten points compared to the regional elections of five years ago.

For the Social Democrats (SPD), partners of Merkel in Berlin, which chain electoral defeats since the legislative elections of 2017, the hecatomb could be similar, with results ranging from 20 to 21% according to the polls.

It is expected that the results of the first exit polls will arrive around 17:00 GMT (18:00 local time).

The Chancellor, however, does not plan to appear before Monday.

– & # 39; Pressurized & # 39; –

"Angela Merkel has been chancellor for 13 years but, politically, she has never been subjected to such pressure", summed up on Saturday the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung.

The threat to the Chancellor has been further accentuated by the fact that activists are called in December to vote for the party presidency.

However, officials do not fail to say that, behind the scenes, the CDU must change their leader and make a right turn in the face of the rise of the far right, which Angela Merkel does not want. has not decided to make it clear yet.

"No one can say 100% to what extent the situation will remain stable," warned the number two of the CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, alongside the Chancellor.

A debacle of the CDU, which has been managing the region for nearly two decades, would have a significant impact, as the outgoing minister-president is one of Merkel's barons, Volker Bouffier.

Mr Bouffier has been supporting the Foreign Minister without hesitation since the controversy over Merkel's immigration policy, which has brought more than one million migrants to the country in 2015 and more. 2016.

– The end of a race –

The chancellor, who has been in charge of the CDU for more than 18 years, recently spoke of the end of her political life between the lines, saying that "all those who have tried in the past to solve their own succession have failed".

Even in this case, no member of the CDU has openly declared wanting to direct the training.

On the other hand, the 64-year-old president may be facing a considerable weakening of her social-democratic partner in the federal government.

A new setback in Hesse would spur the debate internally on whether the SPD, in free fall, should leave the government.

The Germans seem tired of the recurring conflicts within the coalition, initiated mainly by the CSU, Bavarian partner of the CDU, which tries to impose its position on immigration. "The crisis of the grand coalition gives enormous weight to the elections in Hesse," summed up the weekly Der Spiegel.

On the other hand, the Greens are doing well in surveys in Hesse and at the national level, after obtaining satisfactory results in Bavaria in mid-October.

The polls attribute to their president, Tarek Al Wazir, between 20 and 21% of the voting intentions.

For its part, the formation of the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD), born just five years ago, is expected to get about 13% of votes, according to polls, that would enter the parliament regional level and would be present in Parliament. cameras of all "Lander".