In the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the SPD is by far the strongest force. According to an extrapolation by the research group Wahlen for the ZDF, the Social Democrats of Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig will gain significantly. The second strongest force in Schwerin is again the AfD, although it is losing. Leading candidate Michael Sack’s CDU has lost a lot. It is the worst result so far for the Christian Democrats in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since reunification.
The Left Party is also likely to have its worst election result to date and cannot stop the negative trend that has persisted since 2011. The Greens and the FDP were both recently not represented in the state parliament.
“This is a wonderful evening for our country, for the SPD in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,” said a visibly satisfied Schwesig to the cheers of around 120 party members. The citizen’s vote is clear and a mandate to them and the SPD to continue to run the country that they gladly accept. The defeated CDU top candidate Sack described the outcome as “catastrophic” for his party.
The SPD was able to assert itself as the strongest force in the last state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2016. Schwesig took over government affairs in 2017 from her predecessor Erwin Sellering and leads a coalition with the CDU.
Schwesig announced that the party committees are now discussing with whom to talk about forming a government. Candidates for this are the previous coalition partner, the CDU, and the Left, both of which have again lost votes. In any case, the AfD was not an option for any of the other parties as an alliance partner. And the Greens and the FDP, who are about to return to parliament, are probably not needed as majority procurers.