Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Armin Laschet learned a painful political lesson on Monday: in a busy election year, 50 days is the new 100 days’ grace period. At a closed-door meeting of his centre-right CDU front bench, the party leader elected last January called two regional election defeats on Sunday a “wake-up call” ahead of September’s federal election. Berlin speculationThe new poll, and Sunday’s regional results, have reinvigorated speculation in Berlin of a new federal government without the CDU. After nearly 16 years of Merkel-led grand coalitions in Berlin, Sunday’s results have put wind in the sails of CDU rival parties. It has framed its Sunday election win in Rhineland-Palatinate as its passport to a post-CDU coalition in Berlin.

Source: The Irish Times March 15, 2021 19:31 UTC