# German voters deliver mixed verdict on Scholz coalition in regional poll Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2022-10-10 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Faces Mixed Fortunes in Meta Description: A regional election in Lower Saxony delivered mixed fortunes for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's national ruling coalition, with the Social Democrats URL: https://financedigest.com/german-voters-deliver-mixed-verdict-on-scholz-coalition-in-regional-pollhtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2022-10-09t222137z1lynxmpei98093rtroptp4germany-election-lower-saxony-1736815071472-compressed.jpg) By Sarah Marsh BERLIN (Reuters) -A regional election in Lower Saxony delivered mixed fortunes for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s national ruling coalition on Sunday, with his Social Democrats scoring a clear win but the Free Democrats failing even to make it into parliament. While the result signalled support for Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), some experts said the drubbing of its federal coalition partner risked destabilising Scholz’s administration at a critical time as Berlin strives to avert energy shortages and further escalation of the war in Ukraine. The other clear winner in Lower Saxony was the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), reflecting a broader upsurge in support for the party across the country amid frustrations over the cost-of-living [crisis in Europe’s](https://www.financedigest.com/europes-energy-crisis-and-the-nuclear-path-out.html "Europe’s energy crisis and the nuclear path out") largest economy. Overall, considered as a gauge of the national mood, the local election sent a [mixed message](https://www.financedigest.com/analysis-ecb-seen-struggling-to-keep-market-on-side-after-mixed-messages.html "Analysis-ECB seen struggling to keep market on side after mixed messages") on Scholz’s three-way “traffic light” federal coalition of the SPD, Greens and Free Democrats (FDP). The FDP, a pro-business party that’s never been a natural ideological fit with the centre-left SPD and Greens, called the Lower Saxony result a “blow” and blamed, in part, his party’s participation in the national administration. Many of our supporters feel alienated by this coalition,” said FDP leader and German [Finance Minister](https://www.financedigest.com/scottish-finance-minister-kate-forbes-to-run-for-countrys-leadership.html "Scottish finance minister Kate Forbes to run for country’s leadership") Christian Lindner. Philipp Koeker, political scientist at the University of Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, said the result had the potential to destabilize Scholz’s coalition at a federal level. The FDP will now be considerably less likely to [back any policies that do not fit its programme,”](https://www.financedigest.com/reckon-one-builds-momentum-with-strong-backing-from-accountants-joining-the-cloud-advisor-programme.html "Reckon One builds momentum with strong backing from accountants joining the Cloud Advisor Programme") he said. This could even [lead coalition partners to seek support from opposition parties.”](https://www.financedigest.com/centre-right-gerb-party-leads-in-bulgaria-election-partial-results.html "Centre-right GERB party leads in Bulgaria election -partial results") Preliminary official results showed the SPD winning 33.4% of the vote in Lower Saxony, an the economically powerful swing [state of 8 million](https://www.financedigest.com/wizz-air-loses-fight-against-67-million-in-state-aid-for-romanian-rival.html "Wizz Air loses fight against million in state aid for Romanian rival") people, home to carmaker Volkswagen, though that was down 3.5 percentage points compared to the last state election in 2017. The pro-business FDP scored just 4.7 %, failing to make the 5% threshold to enter the state parliament, while the AfD was on track to nearly [double its share](https://www.financedigest.com/permitted-share-of-chinas-yuan-in-russian-wealth-fund-doubled-to-60-finance-minister.html "Permitted share of China’s yuan in Russian wealth fund doubled to 60% -Finance Minister") of the vote to 10.9%. Analysts said the SPD benefited from the popularity of its incumbent Lower Saxony premier Stephan Weil, who won his third consecutive term and is [seen as a steady](https://www.financedigest.com/wall-st-seen-steady-ahead-of-inflation-data-fed-later-in-week.html "Wall St seen steady ahead of inflation data, Fed later in week") hand in uncertain times. Support for the party, which lost the two previous regional votes in [Germany this year](https://www.financedigest.com/germany-home-prices-to-sink-nearly-6-this-year-reuters-poll.html "Germany home prices to sink nearly 6% this year – Reuters Poll"), has slumped to 18-20% at national level after scoring 25.7% in the 2021 federal election. State governments can influence national politics in the upper [house](https://www.financedigest.com/first-national-lettings-business-to-help-generation-rent-get-on-the-housing-ladder.html "First national lettings business to help ‘Generation Rent’ get on the housing ladder") of the national parliament. They also have jurisdiction over important [sectors such as the local police and education](https://www.financedigest.com/how-video-technology-continues-to-boom-in-the-education-sector.html "How video technology continues to boom in the education sector"), give the federal nature of Germany. In Lower Saxony, the SPD came in [well ahead](https://www.financedigest.com/cricket-injured-buttler-progressing-well-ahead-of-t20-world-cup.html "Cricket-Injured Buttler ‘progressing well’ ahead of T20 World Cup") of the conservatives of former Chancellor Angela Merkel who were in second place on 28.1%, down 5.5 percentage points. The ZDF [exit poll](https://www.financedigest.com/italys-right-wing-parties-seen-winning-power-exit-polls.html "Italy’s right-wing parties seen winning power – exit polls") put the Greens, whose ministers are currently Germany’s most popular politicians, on 14.5% or 5.8 percentage points more than in 2017. That could enable the SPD to potentially break from the conservatives, with whom they have been [ruling in a grand coalition in Lower](https://www.financedigest.com/uk-energy-bill-help-wont-lower-inflation-statisticians-rule.html "UK energy bill help won’t lower inflation, statisticians rule") Saxony, and link up with the Greens instead. (Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Additional Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Editing by David Holmes,Pravin Char and Diane Craft) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---