On September 15, “five years after losing its absolute majority, the Christian Social Union (CSU) [the Bavarian branch of the Christian democratic CDU] will once again be the sole governing party in Bavaria,” headlines Süddeutsche Zeitung.
CSU President Horst Seehofer will retain his position as minister-president of Bavaria. With one week left before federal general elections, the result is good news for Chancellor Angela Merkel and her party.
However, notes the daily, the liberal FDP, which is the CDU’s coalition partner, suffered “a crushing defeat”. With just 3.3 per cent of the vote, the party scored below the threshold needed to enter the Bavarian parliament. The social democrats (20.6 per cent) and the Greens (8.6 per cent) will also have to contend with “very disappointing” results, which, according to Südeutsche Zeitung, have brought “a grand coalition in Berlin one step closer”.