German state elections in 2011

BERLIN: Seven of Germany's 16 states held elections this year, dealing Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling centre-right coalition of conservatives and Free Democrats (FDP) a string of setbacks ahead of the next federal elections due in 2013.

Merkel's government is under pressure and public squabbling within the coalition, particularly over euro zone policy, has increased with leaders of the ruling parties at odds.

The year began with Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) losing control of Hamburg to the centre-left Social Democrats in the first state vote on Feb. 20.

They then lost the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, which they had ruled for 58 years.

In May Merkel's party suffered its worst result in 52 years in the city state of Bremen, following this with its poorest ever showing in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in September, where the Chancellor has her own constituency.

Results for her junior coalition partners the FDP have been just as dismal. The party saw its share of the vote fall in six of the seven state elections, and was ejected from four state assemblies, including Berlin, after falling below the 5 percent threshold.

Following are details of the state elections.

The SPD, led by popular Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit, saw its lead slip by almost 2 percent to 29.5 percent, according to first exit polls. The CDU managed to improve some 2 percent on its 2006 showing, polling 23 percent, and remaining the second largest party. The Greens gained almost 5 percent to 18 percent.

Support for the FDP collapsed to just 2 percent from a previous 7.6 percent.

The Left Party, a union of former communists and disgruntled Social Democrats, saw its share of the vote fall slightly, while the protest Pirate party won a shocking 8.5 percent to enter the state assembly for the first time.

The most likely outcomes are an SPD-Greens coalition but a SPD-CDU coalition is also possible.

Copyright Reuters, 2011