German right-wing leader sees Merkel weakened by state election

Accra, Oct 16, (dpa/GNA) - Germany faces the end of Chancellor Angela Merkel's era after her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) suffered a hefty loss in a state election on Sunday, according to a leader of Germany's right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD).

"I believe that this is the beginning of the end of the Merkel government," said Alexander Gauland, a parliamentary leader of the AfD, which entered the 14th of Germany's 16 state parliaments in the election in the nation's second biggest state, Lower Saxony.

Support for Merkel's CDU slumped in the central German state to a 59-year low of 33.6 per cent. The AfD's vote in Lower Saxony also came in at a lower-than-expected 6.2 per cent.

Popular Social Democrat Party (SPD) Premier Stephan Weil was returned to power with 36.9 per cent of the vote after the centre left SPD increased its support by 4 percentage points.

Gauland said that Merkel had been weakened politically by Sunday's vote just as she prepares for a tough round of talks to forge a new national coalition after support for the CDU sunk to its lowest level since 1949 in last month's general election.

The Lower Saxony election came just three weeks after the AfD became the first major right-wing party to enter the national parliament in Berlin after winning 12.6 per cent of the vote in the September 24 general election.

Since then, the AfD has been hit by a new wave of power struggles and splits, which have characterized the party since it was formed in 2013.

GNA

Read Full Story