BBC News: Merkel’s Three Challenges

Chancellor Angela Merkel's already weakened government confronts challenges after Sunday's election in Germany’s largest federal state – Bavaria. Jenny Hill explains for BBC News that the ruling Christian Social Union, a coalition partner with Merkel’s more conservative Christian Democrat Union, lost its majority in the Bavarian state parliament. The party’s leader still serves as Merkel's interior minister. Likewise, the Social Democratic Party lost ground. Critics blame the coalition’s “poor performance,” and party officials will assess whether to withdraw from the coalition, which could end Merkel’s time as chancellor. Merkel’s party also endures internal pressure with some party members questioning her leadership. “The Bavarian election has been described as a political earthquake,” Hill writes. “The old traditional centre-right parties (like hers) and the centre-left are falling out of fashion with voters who are turning instead to smaller, often newer, sometimes populist political parties.” Such discontent offers an opening for far-right parties like the Alternative for Germany, posing a threat for the European Union. – YaleGlobal