BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition suffered a new setback and Germany's main opposition parties celebrated gains in a state election Sunday that came as Merkel's unpopular government grapples with the eurozone debt crisis and other challenges.
The vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a northeastern region where Merkel's parliamentary constituency is located, was the sixth of seven German state elections this year — several of which have gone poorly for the chancellor's center-right coalition.
The center-left Social Democrats, who lead the state government but are in opposition nationally, won nearly 37 percent of Sunday's vote — a gain of more than five points compared with five years ago, according to ARD and ZDF television projections based on exit polls and early counting.
The other winners were the opposition Greens, who have been riding high in national polls. They were projected to win more than 8 percent and enter the state legislature for the first time, which national leader Cem Ozdemir called "a true sensation."
Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, however, was seen sliding to 24 percent from nearly 29 percent in 2006 — an unexpectedly poor result. And their partners in the national government, the Free Democrats, appeared set to score just 3 percent — losing two-thirds of their support and their seats in the state legislature.
"The CDU is, of course, disappointed by this election result," senior federal lawmaker Peter Altmaier told ARD. He added that it pointed to the need "to stand together. ... This is the precondition for people to have confidence in our policies."
Over the coming weeks, Merkel faces the task of swinging skeptical center-right lawmakers in Berlin behind the latest eurozone rescue measures. That adds to issues such as this year's abrupt decision to speed up Germany's exit from nuclear power and constant internal squabbling over tax cuts that have undermined center-right support.
The Free Democrats have taken much of the blame for squabbling in the government and have struggled to reverse a slump in polls since Philipp Roesler, the new vice chancellor, took over its leadership earlier this year.
"This is a defeat that tastes bitter," said their general secretary, Christian Lindner. "For us in Berlin, this means (we need) to work with discipline on the bread-and-butter issues — the euro, the economic situation, jobs."
The projections suggested that the far-right National Democratic Party was likely to get the 5 percent support needed to retain seats it won five years ago in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's state legislature, despite losing some support.
It is one of only two regions where the party, which has no seats in the federal parliament, has local lawmakers.
About 1.4 million people were eligible to vote in the sparsely populated state on the Baltic Sea coast — an economically struggling region that was once part of communist East Germany.
It is currently run by a left-right "grand coalition" of the center-left Social Democrats, who provide Gov. Erwin Sellering, and Merkel's CDU.
Sellering could decide to continue that alliance or form a coalition with the ex-communist Left Party, which scored some 17 percent. That combination ran Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania until 2006.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.