01:55Germany: CDU sees 'hard losses' in state election – CDU Hessen PM
Hessen Prime Minister Volker Bouffier greeted members of his party at the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) election night soiree in Wiesbaden on Sunday, after the polls closed.
In the first official poll projections after voting came to a close, the CDU is reported to have lost 10.5 points in comparison to five years ago. However, the party has still managed to remain the strongest party in the state, winning 28 percent.
Bouffier gave a mixed response to the initial results. He said that the CDU "have experienced hard losses," however Bouffier maintained that they had succeeded in their two election goals. "We wanted to be the clearly strongest faction and we wanted to manage it so that no government could be built against the [Christian Democratic] Union. As it is today, as it is at this moment, we have succeeded in both of them, my friends," Bouffier declared.
Meanwhile, the CDU’s grand coalition partner in the national government, the Social Democrats (SPD), suffered their worst loss since 1946. The initial polling shows the Greens making strident gains of 8.5 points and, with 12 percent of the vote, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) will enter the Hessen parliament for the first time.
01:55Hessen Prime Minister Volker Bouffier greeted members of his party at the Christian Democratic Union’s (CDU) election night soiree in Wiesbaden on Sunday, after the polls closed.
In the first official poll projections after voting came to a close, the CDU is reported to have lost 10.5 points in comparison to five years ago. However, the party has still managed to remain the strongest party in the state, winning 28 percent.
Bouffier gave a mixed response to the initial results. He said that the CDU "have experienced hard losses," however Bouffier maintained that they had succeeded in their two election goals. "We wanted to be the clearly strongest faction and we wanted to manage it so that no government could be built against the [Christian Democratic] Union. As it is today, as it is at this moment, we have succeeded in both of them, my friends," Bouffier declared.
Meanwhile, the CDU’s grand coalition partner in the national government, the Social Democrats (SPD), suffered their worst loss since 1946. The initial polling shows the Greens making strident gains of 8.5 points and, with 12 percent of the vote, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) will enter the Hessen parliament for the first time.