German CDU Faces Decline in Support after Early Voting

German voting begins in two states (Flickr)

The general election in Germany started with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), facing heavy losses in two states on March 14. Voting in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate also commenced, with the Green party taking significant strides.

The governors of these two states belong to the Green Party and the Social Democrats (SPD) respectively. These two states are the first of six to elect their regional legislature this year before the general election takes place later in September, indicating how each state will vote. The Green party maintained 32.7 percent of the vote in Baden-Württemberg, and the SPD won 36 percent of the vote in Rhineland-Palatinate. The CDU, in comparison, scored 23.8 percent in the first state and 26.9 percent in the second.

While the CDU may enjoy its current lead in national polls, support has declined recently over corruption allegations. Two lawmakers from the conservative government, Nikolas Löbel and Georg Nüßlein, allegedly pocketed cash illegally in exchange for procuring mask contracts. Additionally, German citizens are unhappy with how the reigning party has handled vaccine rollout. 

The CDU’s popularity has suffered as a result of these allegations. According to a YouGov poll, approval ratings for their COVID-19 pandemic strategy fell to just 35 percent. This is quite low, in comparison to their healthy 65 percent in September 2020.

Paul Ziemiak, the General Secretary of the CDU, released a statement that encouraged the victorious parties instead of drawing focus to the defeat of the CDU in these states. “In a crisis, we saw that the voters trusted the governing leaders,” said Ziemiak. 

This seems to be a concurrent message within the party, as President of the Bundestag Wolfgang Schäuble commented, “For the CDU it is not a nice evening, but that was predictable. In this election, the personalities of the state premiers are by far the most important factor.”

The coming election is not going to be easy for the presiding party. With Merkel leaving her position, the CDU needs to maintain a stable leadership after already replacing Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer with Armin Laschet earlier this year. This, combined with the troubling allegations, could prove fatal for the CDU. "It's a good day, because it shows that it's possible to create a government in Germany without the CDU," commented Social Democrats Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz. Scholz is part of the CDU-SPD coalition, serving as Merkel’s finance minister. 

While these are early stages in the German election, momentum is in the favor of left-leaning parties, with a strong indication that there could be a change of guard this coming September.