독일 집권 사민당, Scholz 총리 취임 후 첫 지방선거에서 압승

In Saarland State Election, 43.5% Vote Share... Securing 29 of 51 Seats, Likely to Govern Alone

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] In the first German local elections held since Chancellor Olaf Scholz took office last December, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which leads the federal government coalition, achieved a landslide victory.

According to German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) on the 27th (local time), the SPD secured 29 out of 51 seats in the Saarland state election held that day. The SPD's approval rating rose by about 13 percentage points from the previous election to 43.5%.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) received only 28.5% of the vote. The CDU is expected to become the opposition party for the first time in about 20 years. The CDU had continuously governed Saarland since 1999 and had formed a coalition government with the SPD since 2012.

However, with the SPD's landslide victory in this election, it is expected that the SPD will not form a coalition government.

The Green Party, Free Democratic Party, and Left Party all failed to surpass the 5% threshold required to gain seats. Along with the CDU, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is expected to form the opposition. However, DW reported that the Green Party fell just 23 votes short of the 5% threshold and could become a parliamentary party depending on the final tally.

The SPD's vote share was somewhat higher than pre-election polls. In a poll released by ZDF on the 24th, the expected vote shares were SPD 41% and CDU 28%.

In Germany, four local elections are scheduled this year, starting with Saarland.

On May 8 and May 15, local elections will be held consecutively in Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, and finally, the Lower Saxony state election is scheduled for October 9. Except for Lower Saxony, the other three states are regions where the CDU leads the coalition government. Only Lower Saxony currently has a coalition government led by the SPD.

German local elections are important because they affect the number of seats in the Federal Council (Bundesrat). Although a coalition government of the SPD, Green Party, and Free Democratic Party was formed through the federal lower house election last September, conservative forces still hold an overwhelming majority of seats in the Federal Council. Conservative forces, including the CDU, hold 51 out of 69 seats in the council.

The number of seats in the German Federal Council is allocated to each state based on population, ranging from 3 to 6 seats. Saarland is allocated only 3 seats in the Federal Council. North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony, where elections are scheduled, are allocated the highest number of 6 seats each.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.