SPD wins Lower Saxony election but coalition with Greens unsustainable

The Social Democrats (SPD) achieved a decisive victory in Sunday's Lower Saxony state election, but didn't garner enough votes to continue their government coalition with the Green Party, Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ) reports. With a (preliminary) result of 36.9 percent, the SPD clearly beat Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU, which received 33.6 percent of the vote. The SPD’s victory in the northwestern state is seen as decisive for the party, which incurred its worst result in the Federal Republic's history in national elections three weeks ago. It is also a setback for Merkel, whose party won the federal election but also incurred heavy losses.
In a separate article, news agency Reuters says the result further weakens Merkel as she prepares to negotiate a coalition with the Greens and the pro-business FDP. The CDU’s secretary general Peter Tauber noted that all three parties involved in national coalition talks had lost support in Lower Saxony but said he didn't see negotiations influenced by the result. “It wouldn’t be wise to think this will weigh us down,” he said.

Read the article by HAZ in German here and the Reuters article in English here.

Find background in the CLEW article Vote in No.1 wind power state stalls Germany's coalition talks.