Merkel’s Nuclear Policy Rejected as Greens Surge in Voting

German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition was defeated in its southwestern heartland and failed to win control of a second state as the anti-nuclear Greens vote surged to a record, forcing her to reassess energy policy.

The Greens are poised to enter the regional governments in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate after yesterday’s state elections conducted in the shadow of the nuclear disaster in Japan. In Baden-Wuerttemberg, the Greens are set to lead their first state administration, ejecting Merkel’s Christian Democrats from power in Stuttgart after 58 years.