[ad_1]
- According to the first extrapolation, incumbents Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) and Malu Dreyer (SPD) prevail in state elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate.
- The CDU has suffered more losses compared to 2016 and is falling in both countries to the worst result in their history.
The Greens are growing significantly in the Palatinate. - Due to the large number of voters by mail, significantly fewer people turned out to the polling station.
In Baden-württemberg the Greens around Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann won the state elections in Baden-Württemberg according to initial projections by a wide margin. He himself speaks of a good result. Kretschmann, 72, is the first and only national environmental director in Germany and has held the post since 2011. For the past five years he has ruled in coalition with the Christian Democrats as a junior partner.
By extrapolation, a green-red coalition is now mathematically possible. According to the ARD, the Greens and the SPD can combine 72 seats in the future state parliament and thus obtain an absolute majority. However, according to an extrapolation from ZDF, it would not be enough for both parties.
In Rhineland-Palatinate According to the first extrapolation, the SPD clearly wins the state elections of Prime Minister Malu Dreyer. Dreyer is confident that his election victory will also inspire the SPD in the federal government. The SPD needs power options, it says in the ARD with a view to the so-called traffic light coalition. This works very well in Mainz, and the federal government will look at it too. Dreyer has led the coalition of traffic lights (red, yellow and green) made up of the SPD, the FDP (liberals) and the Greens for the last five years.
CDU with poor results
The CDU has lost in both federal states. “They are the personal successes of the prime minister,” CDU general secretary Paul Ziemiak said of the poor election results.
The mask affair, which damaged the CDU, was also partly responsible. There is also a lack of understanding and criticism of the crisis management of the crown.
High percentage of postal voters
In state elections, significantly fewer people than normal cast their vote at polling stations. Instead, there was an unusually high number of absentee votes.
Preliminary official final results are expected around midnight.
These are the first state elections in Germany since the pandemic began a year ago. A new regional parliament will be elected in Saxony-Anhalt in early June, and then on September 26 in Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Thuringia. They take place at the same time as the general elections.
Local elections were also held in Hesse today. A green feeling is emerging there.
The Union is in the lead at the national level, but weak
Merkel, who has ruled since November 2005, wants to retire from active politics after four terms. The Christian Democrats want to decide on the chancellor candidacy after Easter (April 4) and by Pentecost (May 23) at the latest.
In national polls, the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU, remain by far the strongest force. However, it recently lost points in national polls.
