GERMANY:GERMAN CHANCELLOR Angela Merkel's conservatives held on to power in a state election in Hamburg yesterday which also dealt a blow to the Social Democrats (SPD) and could heighten tensions in Berlin's "grand coalition".
Preliminary results showed that Christian Democrat (CDU) premier Ole von Beust, a Merkel ally who has ruled the northern port city since 2001, would keep his job after winning 43 per cent of the vote, down from 47 per cent four years ago.
He will probably lose his absolute majority in the state parliament and be forced to forge a coalition with the environmentalist Greens or possibly the SPD, which scored 34 per cent.
Ms Merkel, who has presided over a robust economy, remains popular two years after narrowly beating her predecessor Gerhard Schröder and taking power atop an awkward CDU-SPD national coalition.
Her Christian Democrats have seen their support dip in three straight regional elections this year, but their long-time rivals, the SPD, look much weaker and their leader Kurt Beck could come under pressure after the Hamburg result.
This could result in more sniping between the uneasy partners in Ms Merkel's government in the run-up to the next federal vote in 2009, although few people think the coalition will break apart.
Heightened tensions would make it more difficult for Ms Merkel's government to push through tax and labour market reforms that economists say are crucial for shoring up an economy facing threats from a strong euro and a US slowdown.
The SPD's woes are partly linked to the Left party, a grouping of ex-communists and disgruntled former SPD members, who until last month had only made a mark in states located in the former East Germany.
The Left scored 6.5 per cent to enter its fourth state parliament in the western part of the country following strong performances in the states of Hesse and Lower Saxony last month.
"Now they are established," said Hajo Funke, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "There is now going to be debate, especially in the SPD, about how to relate to the Left."
As in the Hesse election last month, neither the CDU nor the SPD, Germany's biggest parties, won enough support in Hamburg to take power with their preferred coalition partners.
- (Reuters)