German Chancellor Angela Merkel has suffered a setback as her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was voted out of power in the state polls in Lower Saxony where the opposition alliance of SPD and Green Party has emerged victorious, months ahead of the general election in which she is seeking a third four-year term.
The state had been ruled for the past ten years by the CDU in a coalition with the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), similar to Merkel's coalition government in Berlin.
The ruling coalition led by state Premier David McAllister and the opposition alliance of Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green party were initially running neck-and-neck with 67 seats each in the 135-seat state legislature in on Sunday's polls.
However, the SPD and the Green party moved ahead of the ruling coalition and established a wafer thin majority of just one vote, which will give them the mandate to form the next government, according to provisional official results announced late on Sunday night.
The CDU lost 6.5 per cent of votes compared to the last election in 2008 and polled around 36 per cent, but defended its position as the largest political force in the state.
The state had been ruled for the past ten years by the CDU in a coalition with the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), similar to Merkel's coalition government in Berlin.
The ruling coalition led by state Premier David McAllister and the opposition alliance of Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green party were initially running neck-and-neck with 67 seats each in the 135-seat state legislature in on Sunday's polls.
However, the SPD and the Green party moved ahead of the ruling coalition and established a wafer thin majority of just one vote, which will give them the mandate to form the next government, according to provisional official results announced late on Sunday night.
The CDU lost 6.5 per cent of votes compared to the last election in 2008 and polled around 36 per cent, but defended its position as the largest political force in the state.