Berlin, Sept. 21 (SANA)German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to remain in office and press ahead with his government’s reform agenda after his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered losses in two state elections, including its first failure to enter a German state parliament.

Preliminary results in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania showed the Alternative for Germany (AfD) finishing first with 38.2 percent of the vote, ahead of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of state premier Manuela Schwesig with 35.5 percent. The CDU received 4.9 percent, leaving it below the 5 percent threshold for representation in the state parliament.

In Berlin, Die Linke emerged as the largest party with 25.7 percent, followed by the CDU with 18.8 percent and the AfD with 16.3 percent. The Greens received 14.3 percent and the SPD 12.1 percent.

Merz called the CDU result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania a “disaster” but rejected suggestions that he would step aside and said his government would continue with planned economic and social reforms.

The two results followed another CDU defeat in Saxony-Anhalt on Sept. 6, giving the party losses in three state elections within two weeks.

The result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania marked the first time the CDU failed to clear the 5 percent threshold in a German state election. The 4.9 percent result was also the party’s lowest in any German state election since 1949.

The AfD more than doubled its share from 16.7 percent in 2021, while the SPD slipped from 39.6 percent to 35.5 percent. The Left Party received 6.5 percent and the Greens 5.7 percent.

The Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) narrowly missed the threshold with 4.8 percent, while the Free Democratic Party received 1 percent.

The result also marked the second time in two weeks that the AfD finished first in a German state election, following its result in Saxony-Anhalt.

Speaking at CDU headquarters inBerlin, Merz acknowledged that political momentum from the federal level had been lacking but said he intended to remain both CDU chairman and chancellor.

“The reforms have to come,” Merz said, adding that implementing them would require “backbone, steadfastness and patience.”

“I want to move our country forward,” he said.

Merz said the government would continue pursuing economic and social reforms despite the election results, arguing that changes were necessary to strengthen Germany economically and socially. He also described the reform agenda as a response to what he called the appeal of authoritarian political ideas.

Eight CDU state premiers had backed Merz in a joint statement ahead of Sunday’s elections.

Merz’s federal coalition partner, the SPD, also said the government needed to respond to the results while continuing its reform program.

Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil pointed to measures including a €500 billion infrastructure investment fund and efforts to reduce bureaucracy and encourage investment.

Klingbeil nevertheless acknowledged dissatisfaction with aspects of the government’s performance, including controversy surrounding pension reform.

“There remains a clear signal in the public debate which must be heard,” he said.

The CDU-SPD federal coalition is debating changes to pensions, health care and long-term care as part of its broader economic and social reform agenda.

AfD representatives said the party’s first-place result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania gave it a mandate to seek participation in government formation.The other parties represented in the new state parliament have ruled out forming a coalition with the AfD.

AfD co-leader Alice Weidel criticized Merz and called on other parties to reconsider their refusal to cooperate with the AfD, saying her party’s longer-term objective was to hold coalition talks with the CDU.

The election result itself does not determine the next state government. The SPD, Left Party and Greens have enough combined representation for a parliamentary majority, although any governing arrangement will depend on negotiations. The outgoing SPD-Left government no longer has a majority on its own.

In Berlin, Die Linke more than doubled its share of the vote to 25.7 percent from 12.2 percent in 2023, recording its best result in a Berlin state election.

The CDU fell to 18.8 percent from 28.2 percent, while the AfD rose to 16.3 percent from 9.1 percent. The Greens received 14.3 percent, down from 18.4 percent, while the SPD fell to 12.1 percent from 18.4 percent, its lowest result in a Berlin state election.

Berlin’s election authority formally established the preliminary second-vote result early Monday.

Die Linke’s lead candidate Elif Eralp focused heavily on housing affordability and rent policy during the campaign. Following the result, she said her party would seek talks with the Greens and SPD over forming a new government.

The CDU and SPD, which had governed Berlin together, lost their parliamentary majority.

Die Linke, the SPD and Greens have enough combined representation for a majority. A CDU-led arrangement with the Greens and SPD is also mathematically possible, but the eventual government will depend on negotiations among the parties.

Economic and cost-of-living issues featured prominently in both state campaigns.

In Berlin, Die Linke focused on housing affordability and rent policy, including proposals concerning large private housing companies.

In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, energy policy was among the campaign issues, with the AfD advocating renewed Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline as a way of reducing energy costs.

Schwesig said after the election that Germany’s support forUkraineand the debate over Nord Stream were among the issues affecting political attitudes in the state.

At the federal level, Merz’s CDU-SPD coalition has been seeking to implement economic, tax and welfare reforms. Merz said the state-election results would not change that agenda, while Klingbeil said the government needed to take public dissatisfaction seriously.

With preliminary results established in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, attention now turns to negotiations over new governments in the two states and to the federal coalition’s response to the election results.