Angela Merkel was reeling from a series of election losses on Sunday that could be the most serious challenge she has faced to her power in Germany. The vote, on what the German press called “Super Sunday”, was for regional parliaments in three of the country’s federal states. But the timing meant that it was seen as a virtual referendum on Mrs Merkel’s controversial “open-door” refugee policy. The results could seriously undermine the German chancellor as she tries to persuade EU leaders to agree to a deal with Turkey to resolve the migrant crisis. Mrs Merkel’s Christian Democrat party (CDU) was beaten in its stronghold of Baden-Württemberg for the first time in more than 50 years, according to exit polls...In the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate, it saw a lead of 10 per cent in the polls evaporate in just four months. Most damaging of all for Mrs Merkel, the far-Right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party stormed to its best election results ever on a campaign that focused almost exclusively on an anti-migrant message. In the East German state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the CDU managed to cling on to first place, celebrations were muted as the AfD secures a shock second place with 23 per cent of the vote. The AfD won seats in all three state parliaments and emerged from the night as a political force Mrs Merkel can no longer afford to ignore. “We have fundamental problems in Germany that led to this election result,” Frauke Petry, the AfD leader said. “We’re seeing above all that voters are turning away in large numbers from the big established parties and voting for us. “They expect us finally to be the opposition that there hasn't been.” Ms Petry caused controversy ahead of the election by calling for police to shoot asylum seekers at the border. “No question about it, none of the parties in the federal parliament has any reason to be happy about these election results,” Michael Grosse-Brömer, the parliamentary chief whip of Mrs Merkel's CDU, said.
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