CSU set to win most votes, but loses absolute majority in Bavaria

The Christian Social Union (CSU) looked set to win the most votes in Sunday’s regional election in Bavaria, one of Germany’s conservative heartlands. But for only the third time in post-war history, Bavaria’s dominant political force will have to share power.

According to early exit polls, the CSU lost its absolute majority in the southern German state, taking 37.2 percent of the vote. The Greens earned the second-largest share of the vote with at least 17.5 percent. They were followed by the right-leaning Free Voters with 11.6 percent and the far-right populist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party with 10.2 percent. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) continued to decline in popularity, getting only 9.7 percent, while the business-friendly Free Democratic Party was projected to clear the five-percent hurdle needed for parliamentary representation. Those figures varied as more and more votes were counted, with the CSU making slight gains and the SPD minimal losses.

According to early estimates, the CSU garnered between 74 and 83 of the 192 to 200 total seats in the regional parliament, far short of the party’s previous absolute majority. But the complex calculations concerning parliamentary seats were set to continue into Monday.

“Of course it’s not easy to separate ourselves from what’s going on nationally,” a noticeably somber Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder said after the results were announced. “The main priority is to form a stable government for Bavaria as quickly as possible, and we accept that task.”

DW