The CDU and the SPD also suffer a heavy defeat in Hessen

Once again, Chancellor Merkel's CDU and its coalition partner, SPD, suffered a dramatic defeat. The stability of the German government threatens to deteriorate further

Both parties lost more than ten percentage points each Sunday in the Hessian parliamentary elections. Dissatisfaction with the Berlin government played a major role in this regard

The poor results do not seem to lead to an immediate break-up of the CDU coalition, the UCC and the Merkel SPD. But SPD leader Andrea Nahles has threatened to do so. She described as "unacceptable" the current situation of the coalition and demanded that existing conflicts between its partners be quickly resolved. A large part of his party would like to take a break immediately.

Half of the voters in Hesse told investigators that they wanted to give a lesson to the government parties in Berlin. The CDU remained the largest party in Hesse, but fell from 38.3% in 2013 to 27.2% (according to preliminary results). The SPD fell from 30.7% to 19.8%.

The Greens were almost as big as the SPD with 19.6% and joined the AfD (13.2%) as the big winners. AfD is now represented in all state parliaments.

The results confirm a national trend according to which previously large populations are losing a lot, while the left and right parties are growing rapidly. The party landscape in Germany changes dramatically and the formation of a coalition becomes more complex

Two weeks ago, the CSU, the brotherly Bavarian party of the CDU, lost its absolute majority in the regional elections. Bavaria. The SPD was halved, the Greens and the AfD increased sharply.

In Hesse, the CDU and the Greens have ruled together without difficulty over the last five years under the leadership of Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU). Sunday night, we did not know if these two parties had just enough or not enough votes to be able to reign. Otherwise, a combination of both is obvious with the liberal FDP, which got 7.7%.

Berlin politically was waiting nervously for the elections in Hessen in recent weeks and their consequences at the national level – for the SPD, for the CDU, for the coalition in Berlin and for Merkel's future.

The Chancellor has always said that the elections in Hessen concerned only the future of the federal state and not national politics. Yet she campaigned four times in Hessen last week – which did not detract from the defeat of her party.

The pressure on Merkel to assume responsibility for the unease of Christian Democrats has grown rapidly in recent months. At the national level, the CDU is in the polls between 24 and 26%, against 32.7% last year in federal elections. Inside and outside the CDU, there is some question as to how long Merkel, who has been in power for thirteen years, will remain in office.