Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives won a decisive victory over their Social Democrat (SPD) rivals in a vote in Germany's northern state of Schleswig-Holstein on Sunday, boosting her prospects of winning a national election in September.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) fetched 33 percent of the vote in Schleswig-Holstein, up from 30.8 percent in the last election there in 2012, projected results for broadcaster ARD showed. The SPD won 26.2 percent, down from 30.4 percent.
The result leaves the CDU short of sufficient support to rule alone in the state, but means the SPD cannot continue to govern in coalition with the Greens and the South Schleswig Party (SSW), which represents the ethnic Danish minority.
The Greens won 13.3 percent of the vote in the state, the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) 11.5 percent and the SSW 3.5 percent. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has recently been losing support after a bout of infighting, scored only 5.6 percent.
The CDU's lead candidate in Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Guenther, when asked about coalition options, said he was ruling nothing out but that he was closest to the FDP and always ready to talk to the Greens, raising the possibility of a black-yellow-green so-called 'Jamaica coalition', alluding to Jamaica's national flag.
In a fractured national political landscape, such diverse coalition scenarios could also come into play after September's federal election. Merkel's conservatives share power at national level with the SPD and neither wants to continue the arrangement.
Merkel's conservatives thump rivals in German regional vote | Reuters
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) fetched 33 percent of the vote in Schleswig-Holstein, up from 30.8 percent in the last election there in 2012, projected results for broadcaster ARD showed. The SPD won 26.2 percent, down from 30.4 percent.
The result leaves the CDU short of sufficient support to rule alone in the state, but means the SPD cannot continue to govern in coalition with the Greens and the South Schleswig Party (SSW), which represents the ethnic Danish minority.
The Greens won 13.3 percent of the vote in the state, the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) 11.5 percent and the SSW 3.5 percent. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has recently been losing support after a bout of infighting, scored only 5.6 percent.
The CDU's lead candidate in Schleswig-Holstein, Daniel Guenther, when asked about coalition options, said he was ruling nothing out but that he was closest to the FDP and always ready to talk to the Greens, raising the possibility of a black-yellow-green so-called 'Jamaica coalition', alluding to Jamaica's national flag.
In a fractured national political landscape, such diverse coalition scenarios could also come into play after September's federal election. Merkel's conservatives share power at national level with the SPD and neither wants to continue the arrangement.
Merkel's conservatives thump rivals in German regional vote | Reuters
