The Social Democratic Party (SPD) of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost local elections in Berlin this Sunday (12).
Scholz’s party got 18% of the vote while the conservative CDU party got about 28% of the vote in the elections for the Berlin regional parliament, according to estimates by broadcasters ARD and ZDF.
If the figures are confirmed, it will be the first time in 20 years that the CDU has overtaken the SDP as the largest political force in the German capital.
Originally, the regional parliamentary elections were held in September 2021 but were annulled in November 2022 by Berlin’s Constitutional Court due to problems such as long lines and incorrect ballots.
In the 2021 election, the SPD had won with 21.4% of the vote and had formed a coalition with the Greens and The Left, led by the Social Democrat and current mayor of Berlin, Franziska Giffey, who was trying to hold on to her position.
The CDU had come in third place with 18% of the vote.
Analysts indicate that the CDU’s victory came thanks to the growing dissatisfaction of Berlin’s residents with the city’s management and the lack of solutions to chronic problems in the region, such as the lack of housing.
With information from Gazeta do Povo