The conservatives of the CDU clearly prevailed in regional elections in North Rhine-Westphalia this Sunday. According to the initial output projections – traditionally similar to the final results –, The Christian Democrats received 35 percent of the vote. The Social Democrats of the SPD, who came just behind the conservatives in the election polls, received 27.5 percent to 28 percent of the vote. Therefore, they are not in a position to compete in the formation of a government. The current Chancellor of Germany’s most populous federal state is the Christian Democrat Hendrik Wüst.
After the Conservatives, the Greens are the second-biggest winners on election day: the eco-liberals are up nearly 12 percentage points compared to the last regional elections of 2017 and are the third most voted power in the state, with around 18% of the vote. . . . The green party therefore has good cards to govern in coalition with the CDU.
The remainder of the parliamentary arc will likely be completed with between 5.5 and 5.5% of the vote, with liberals from the FDP oscillating between 5% and 5% of the votes in the projections and the far right of the Alternative for Germany (AfD). 6%. Both sides border on extra-parliamentary: Parties must receive at least 5% of the votes to enter the regional parliament. The FDP is the first big loser after losing more than 7 points, while the AfD suffers only a minor electoral setback. However, the far-right are not able to firmly establish themselves in the West German states.
Die Linke, a coalition of ex-social democrats and post-communists, received around 2.2% of the vote and will remain outside the North Rhine-Westphalia Parliament. The party, which is on the far left of the German parliamentary arc, thus deepens its political irrelevance and sees its viability in jeopardy. Regional elections were also marked by low turnout: just over 56% of voters cast their votes, almost 10 percentage points less than in 2017.
possible coalitions
Prime Minister Wüst has been ruling with FDP liberals for the past five years. After the liberal boom this Sunday, the reissue of this coalition has been mathematically denied. The distribution of seats provides three possible governments: A coalition between the CDU and the Greens, a Red-Green government made up of the Social Democrats and the Greens, or a tripartite Traffic Light Coalition between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, just as the Social Democrat governs at the federal level with Chancellor Olaf Scholz. rudder.
Scholz’s party loses the big election test in Germany in 2022. Meanwhile, right-wing Friedrich Merz, the new chairman of the CDU, scores a worthy victory to consolidate his recently launched leadership of the main German conservative party. Merz, originally from North Rhine-Westphalia and voting in this federal state, was quick to show his chest: “These results are also a mood test for federal politics. The CDU is back. Our route has been approved,” tweeted the Christian Democrat president after hearing the initial estimates.
Source: Informacion
