Kohl’s Party Wins State Vote : Power Retained Despite Social Democratic Gains

The ruling Christian Democratic coalition narrowly retained power in a state parliamentary election Sunday in the West German state of Lower Saxony, with political opponents offering conflicting views on the impact on Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s chances of victory in next January’s federal elections.

The conservative Christian Democrats’ share of the vote declined by 6.4% from the last election four years ago, while the opposition Social Democrats’ share rose by 5.6%.

According to final figures released by the Lower Saxony election office, the results showed the Christian Democrats with 44.3% of the total vote, the opposition Social Democrats with 42.1%, the radical Greens party with 7.1%, and the Free Democrats with 6.0%.

This means that the coalition of center-right Christian Democrats and Free Democrats--the same combination that governs nationally--squeaked through with 50.3% and will remain in control--by a one-seat majority--of the 155-seat state Parliament.

The election was being viewed by political analysts as a bellwether for the national elections to be held next Jan. 25, and they indicated that Chancellor Kohl’s popularity had declined. But a Christian Democratic defeat in Lower Saxony would have undercut chances of retaining control of the Bonn Parliament.

Franz Josef Strauss, premier of the state of Bavaria and the leader of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party of the Christian Democrats and a coalition partner in the federal Parliament, declared after the election results: “Kohl cannot relax.”

In Bonn, Kohl said the election shows that the voters favor continuing the Christian Democratic-Free Democratic coalition in national politics.

“The outcome is of immense importance in national terms,” the Christian Democrats’ chancellor said. “It shows that there is no chance of the SPD (Social Democrats) winning an outright majority in January, and there is no majority support for an SPD-Greens alliance. We now have a huge chance of continuing our successful policies with the FDP (Free Democrats) in Bonn.”

In contrast, Johannes Rau, who will be the Social Democratic challenger in January, said the results in Lower Saxony show an “outstanding success” for the party.

Former Social Democratic Chancellor Willy Brandt declared that the Christian Democrats “got a black eye in Hanover and the SPD is the real vote winner.” Hanover is the capital of Lower Saxony.

‘We Made It’

In Hanover, incumbent Christian Democratic premier Ernst Albrecht said that the gain for the Social Democrats was to be expected, as was the loss for the Christian Democrats, and that he was satisfied with the result. “It was tight, but we made it,” Albrecht said.

But the state’s Social Democratic leader, Gerhard Schroeder, said: “We won the election, even if we did not gain power. It was a fantastic result.”

The environmentalist Greens had hoped to capitalize on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, but they increased their share of the vote over 1982 by only 0.6%.