German chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) party said it stood united behind its leader today after some members blamed her for a humiliating loss in a state vote in Baden-Württemberg.
A coalition of the Greens and Social Democrats is expected to take power in the prosperous southwestern region after an election yesterday pushed out Dr Merkel's conservatives from a stronghold they had ruled for six decades.
The loss came after Dr Merkel surprised many of her conservative allies by reversing policy on nuclear power following the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan.
"The conservatives stand united behind Angela Merkel," Hermann Groehe, the general secretary of the CDU, told ARD public television. "We need to take on the looming challenges together."
Dr Merkel, who will not face another federal election until 2013, is expected to weather the defeat, in part because she has no major rivals left within her party.
But signs of dissent within the conservative coalition were evident hours after the election results emerged, with one prominent CDU member criticising her for the nuclear about-face.
"This has broken the spine of the CDU," Friedrich Merz, a former leader of the CDU in parliament who was sidelined by Dr Merkel before she became chancellor, told Handelsblatt daily. "Anyone who rides a wave of panic shouldn't be surprised to be smothered by it."
Members of Dr Merkel's Bavarian sister party, the CSU, also blamed her for the setback, criticising her government's policies on Europe, taxes and energy.
Tumultuous applause erupted on Stuttgart’s Schlossplatz last night as middle-aged, middle-class, lifelong CDU voters celebrated their mass defection to the Greens – and the resulting political upheaval.
Amid frenetic cheers and hugs, they had a clear message for CDU state premier Stefan Mappus: “Mappus Go! Mappus Go!”
“I accept full responsibility for the result,” said a sheepish-looking Mr Mappus, adding hastily: “But I see no reason to look towards Berlin over this.”
He survived another political crisis last autumn: widespread protest over the unpopular “Stuttgart 21” multibillion euro redevelopment of the city’s main train station.
It was a disastrous evening too for Dr Merkel’s coalition partner, the Free Democrats (FDP). Its vote was halved and the party will be lucky to scrape into the new parliament. Party leader Guido Westerwelle, pre-empting another likely leadership heave – the second in six months – portrayed the vote as a referendum on nuclear energy.
“This was a vote on the future of nuclear energy in Germany and we have heard the answer loud and clear,” said Mr Westerwelle, the foreign minister. “That won’t just be discussed in the state party committees but also in Berlin.”
The FDP crashed out of parliament in neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate, where a poll left the SPD on track to retain power.
Reuters