Merkel is planning to stand down after four terms and 16 years in the top job AFP/Odd ANDERSENBERLIN: Elections in two German states on Sunday pose a difficult test for Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, six months before a national vote that will determine who succeeds the country's longtime leader.
Polls point to weak results for Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union . Amid discontent over a sluggish start to Germany’s vaccination drive, and with coronavirus restrictions easing only gradually, Merkel’s Union bloc has been hit over the past two weeks by allegations that two lawmakers profited from deals to procure masks early in the coronavirus pandemic.
That would be a hopeful signal for the national election campaign, in which the traditionally left-leaning environmentalist party is expected to make its first bid for the chancellery. Merkel is not seeking a fifth term after nearly 16 years in power. Many people had already voted by mail, so it is unclear how far the scandal - over lawmakers in the CDU and its Bavaria-only sister party, the Christian Social Union, allegedly enriching themselves through mask deals - will impact Sunday’s vote. Nikolas Loebel, a CDU lawmaker from Baden-Wuerttemberg, and the CSU’s Georg Nuesslein have both quit their parties and say they will not run for parliament again.