GERMANY: DVU WIN SEATS IN SAXONY ANHALT STATE PARLIAMENT
German/Nat
In a shock development, an extreme-right wing German party won seats in the country's
Saxony Anhalt state parliament for the first time on Sunday.
Chancellor Helmut Kohl's strength with eastern German voters deteriorated as voters channelled their disillusionment into support for the
German People's Union (
DVU).
Fearing the appeal of the German People's Union in the economically depressed state, the governor of Saxony-Anhalt had last week urged all mainstream parties to join him in an "
Alliance Against the
Right" to keep them out of parliament.
But
Reinhard Hoeppner's appeal seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
The anti-foreigners party, also known by its German initials DVU, secured more than 12 percent of the vote, according to exit polls.
Kohl's
Christian Democrats lost about that much, slumping to 23 percent support
.
If the exit poll results hold, the Christian Democrats would lose 12 seats in the state legislature.
The ex-communist
Party of Democratic Socialism remained steady with about 19 percent.
The P-D-S would have one additional seat - a total of 22 - while the
German People's Union would win 13.
The Social Democrats gained slightly over
1994 results, winning about 37 percent of the vote, and are set to gain seven for a total of 43 seats.
They declared the vote in the economically depressed state a new boost for their chancellor candidate
Gerhard Schroeder, the frontrunner for the
September 27 national
elections.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"This result makes us thinking but first of all we can consider that it is a great election victory of the
SPD."
SUPER CAPTION: Reinhard Hoeppner,
State governor -
Socialist Democrat Party
Voter turnout was 70 percent, more than 15 percent higher than 1994 turnout.
Beyond the far-right vote, the result signaled the economically depressed region's readiness to dump Kohl in upcoming national elections in favour of
Social Democratic challenger Gerhard Schroeder.
Hoeppner blamed the right-wing surge on voter disenchantment with the chancellor who united
Germany eight years ago.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"
Christoph Bergner as well as Helmut Kohl lost here dearly, whoever disappoints the voters and provokes such a disappointment should not be surprised when there's a protest vote in favour of the D-V-U in this case."
SUPER CAPTION: Reinhard Hoeppner,Socialist Democrat Party
However, pollsters revealed that the German People's Union appeared to have gained about evenly from the major parties.
Support was strongest among voters under 30 - the segment of the population suffering most under Saxony Anhalt's 22
point six percent unemployment.
It's nearly twice the national average.
SOUNDBITE: (German)
"I imagine the D-V-U has no programme but it just picked up the opinion of the people."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, local resident
SOUNDBITE:
"For the S-P-D I'm content but with the
Nazi party, I don't agree, I don't understand the people who live during 40 years under a dictator."
SUPER CAPTION: Vox pop, local resident
The loss was especially significant because eastern
Germans have twice since reunification expressed their gratitude to Kohl by ensuring his re-election.
Without the east's support in the September 27 vote, Kohl could lose his chance at achieving a second historic triumph: leading Germany into monetary union with
Europe.
You can license this story through AP
Archive:
http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/131077d0140210deb8ee3cc6ec783bbf
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork