Exit polls indicate Merkel’s coalition loses regional vote

May 10, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

MarketWatch

FRANKFURT, Germany

Exit polls from a key state election indicated Sunday that Angela Merkel’s coalition has lost its majority in the upper house of parliament, potentially making it hard for the German chancellor to push through her policy agenda.

The election in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, was the first electoral test for Merkel since she was re-elected last September.

The results reflect public anger over the bailout for Greece at a time when local governments in Germany are struggling with severe budget shortfalls.

On Friday, the German parliament approved legislation to contribute 22.4 billion euros to an international aid package for debt-laden Greece.

In Sunday’s election, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, captured 34.1 percent of the votes, according to exit polls by German TV channel ARD. Its coalition partner, the Free Democratic Party, or FDP, won 6.9 percent.

The opposition Social Democrats, or SPD, won 34.4 percent of the votes, while the Green Party won 12.3 percent and the Left Party won 5.8 percent, ARD’s exit polls suggested. These results indicate a surge in support for both the Left and the Green parties.

North Rhine-Westphalia has been governed by a coalition comprising the CDU and the FDP since 2005; Merkel is currently leading the same coalition at the national level.

If the exit polls from Sunday’s vote are confirmed, the CDU and the FDP won’t have enough votes to form another coalition government in North Rhine-Westphalia.

As a result, Merkel’s national coalition will lose its majority in the Bundesrat, the upper house which represents the 16 German federal states and has to approve major pieces of legislation. In that case, the chancellor will have a hard time pushing through controversial tax cuts and health-care reforms.