Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffered a renewed electoral setback Sunday when it lost control of Hamburg, according to exit polls published after voting ended in the northern German city-state, DPA reported. No clear governing coalition emerged from the initial, unofficial, results published by the main broadcasters. The exit polls gave the CDU 42.7 per cent of the vote, down from 47.2 per cent in 2004. Over the past four years the party has been able to govern under Mayor Ole von Beust without a coalition partner. The Social Democrats (SPD) saw support rise to 34.0 per cent, up from 30.5 per cent four years ago, their worst result since World War II. The exit polls gave the Greens 9.5 per cent and the new Left Party 6.4 per cent. The liberal FDP were hovering around the 5 per cent needed to enter the state parliament. Neither the CDU, with its preferred partner the FDP, nor the SPD and Greens secured sufficient support to form a ruling coalition. The election provided further confirmation that the Left, formed less than a year ago and to date held at arms length by the established parties, has become a fixed part of the German electoral landscape. The party, which draws most of its support in the formerly communist east, now has seats in 10 Germany's 16 state legislatures and is the fourth largest party in the federal parliament, behind the CDU, SPD and FDP but ahead of the Greens. Exactly four weeks ago, the CDU saw substantial losses in the states of Lower Saxony and Hesse. At federal level, Merkel heads a broad coalition combining the CDU with the SPD. The next federal elections must be held by September 2009.
