Merkel’s Party Slumps in Berlin Election Amid Populist Surge
Berlins
Social Democrats, who have ruled the capital city for 15 years, including the last five in coalition with Merkels Christian Democratic Union, took the most votes on Sunday with
23 percent, according to separate
exit polls by broadcasters ARD and ZDF. The
CDU came in second with
18 percent, while Alternative for Germany, or
AfD, won seats in the city-states parliament for the first time.
The CDUs defeat is the second straight electoral setback for Merkels party after finishing third behind the AfD for the first time in another state election two weeks ago. The AfD has siphoned voters from established parties with its call to halt migration and deport rejected asylum seekers more quickly. In Berlin, both the CDU and SPD -- which govern together at the national level -- lost about 5 percentage points of support on Sunday.
The
Greens and the anti-capitalist
Left Party each took
16.5 percent, while the pro-business
Free Democrats were poised to return to the Berlin city assembly with
6.5 percent, according to the exit polls.
The latest defeat means
Merkels party may exit the government in Germanys largest city. Berlins Social Democratic mayor, Michael Mueller, has said hed prefer a coalition with the Greens, for which hed also lack a majority if the results are confirmed. That raises the
prospect of a three-way coalition between the SPD, Greens and Left Party...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-18/merkel-s-party-slumps-in-berlin-election-amid-populist-surge