German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was defeated in a ballot in her home state by the country’s main opposition party.
The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) took 35.7 percent of the vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State, reported Der Spiegel news magazine.
“We practice good politics for the people,” Erwin Sellering, a SPD candidate for governor, told the publication.
Merkel’s center-right CDU only got 23.1 percent of the votes, sliding down more than 5 percent in votes since the last elections in 2006, representing the worst defeat for the Party since Germany was reunified in 1990.
“The CDU is, of course, disappointed by this election result,” said a senior lawmaker, Peter Altmaier, according to The Associated Press.
Even though the CDU remains in the lead throughout the country, some observers say that the defeat in Mecklenburg could be the beginning of the end for the Party.
Altmaier added that delegates in the CDU should “stand together” in order to beat back the opposition. “This is the precondition for people to have confidence in our policies,” he added.
