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Germany’s ruling Christian Democrats (CDU) suffered big losses in two state elections on Sunday, presenting Angela Merkel’s party with a major setback just months before the country chooses her successor as chancellor.
According to initial projections by public broadcaster ARD, the conservative party posted its worst-ever results in both Baden-Württemberg, with about 24 percent of the vote, and in Rhineland-Palatinate, with 26 percent.
The CDU and its Bavarian sister party have been battered in recent days by corruption allegations leveled at its lawmakers, who have been accused of profiting from public contracts for face masks and questionable ties to Azerbaijan.
The results in the two western states dealt a blow to new CDU leader Armin Laschet’s chances of securing the nod to be the center-right candidate to succeed Merkel, who plans to step down after a general election in September.
The Green Party came in first in Baden-Württemberg, holding steady compared to the last election in 2016 with about 32 percent of the vote. The CDU’s score in the state represented a drop of around three percentage points.
In Rhineland-Palatinate, the Social Democrats maintained first place with about 34.5 percent of the vote, while the CDU lost some six percentage points compared to the last election in 2016.
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