Chastened by their worst result since 1949 in September’s national election, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives are hoping for victory in a regional vote on Sunday to strengthen their hand in thorny three-way coalition talks in Berlin. Lower Saxony, an agricultural heartland and Germany’s second biggest region, offers Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) the prospect of a morale boost as they seek to cobble together an unprecedented “Jamaica” national coalition with the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) and Greens. It would be the clunky coalition’s federal debut if talks, due to start next week, prove a success. The result effectively brought an end to the existing national coalition with the SPD, who also performed badly. The latest INSA poll showed the SPD on 33%, closely followed by the CDU on 32%.

Source: Dhaka Tribune October 12, 2017 15:22 UTC