A first projection by the ARD network at 1615 GMT showed Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) falling to 24 percent from the 28.8 percent won in the sparsely populated state on the Baltic shore in 2006. It was the CDU’s worst result ever there.
The Free Democrats (FDP) were only an opposition party in the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern assembly in Schwerin but crashed out with a result below the 5 percent threshold — just 3.1 percent after 9.6 percent in 2006.
The euro zone crisis loomed over the campaign ahead of a key vote in the Berlin parliament on euro zone bailout reforms in late September.
It has been a dreary year for Merkel. Two years before the next scheduled federal election, the CDU is also slumping in national polls — in part due to general discontent over Merkel and over her hesitant leadership during the euro zone crisis.
The CDU and FDP have suffered a string of bitter setbacks in six state elections this year. The CDU lost control of two states — Hamburg and Baden-Wuerttemberg — it had long ruled.
The Social Democrats (SPD), which has ruled with the CDU in Mecklenburg-Vorpommer since 2006, rose to 36.8 percent from 30.2 percent. The SPD could continue the coalition with the CDU or switch to the Left party, which won 17 percent, or the Greens, which won seats in the state for the first time ever with 8.4 percent.
“We’ll decide here what’s best for the state,” said SPD state premier Erwin Sellering when asked which of the three possible coalition partners he would pick. The SPD is in opposition in Berlin.
The far-right NPD also appeared to have won seats in the state assembly with 5.5 percent, just clearing the five percent hurdle, after they won 7.3 percent in 2006.
“There was an incredible smear campaign against us,” NPD leader Udo Pastoers said in an ARD TV interview.
The poor results in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were a personal setback for Merkel, who campaigned heavily in the state of 1.6 million with nine appearances. Merkel’s constituency in parliament is also located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Yet another election defeat for the CDU will heighten nervousness among backbenchers in the Berlin parliament worried about their job security. Merkel’s coalition faces a difficult vote on the euro zone bailout on Sept. 29 and there are already fears that not enough coalition deputies will back Merkel.
The Greens, riding high in national polls in the wake of the Japanese nuclear disaster, cleared the five percent hurdle in the state for the first time and now have seats in all 16 German states.