Chancellor Angela Merkel was counting the cost Monday of an historic drubbing for her conservative party in Germany's most populous state, a major setback 16 months ahead of national elections.
Voters in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) with its 18 million inhabitants, handed Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) its worst ever result in the state, just over 26% according to preliminary results.
With less than a year and a half to go until she seeks a third term in office, Merkel must now weigh up how to ensure a national victory for her CDU, as well as see through her eurozone crisis-fighting policy.
“Catastrophe for the CDU,” mass circulation Bild said, adding the result would "make things difficult for Chancellor Angela Merkel”, while Die Welt commented that “the ground is shaking beneath Angela Merkel”.