For the first time in two decades, the German Chancellor's party is defeated by Merkel's party in local elections in Berlin

The Social Democratic Party, led by German Chancellor Olaf Schultz, who has held the mayorship of Berlin for more than 20 years, suffered a major defeat Sunday in the local elections in the capital, as the conservatives advanced to it, according to TV estimates.

The Christian Democratic Union, the party of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, topped the results of the local parliament elections in the German capital, by winning 28% of the vote, compared to about 18% for the Social Democrats, in the worst result for them since World War II, according to the first numbers of the two “ARD” channels. and ZDF.

Berlin's loss is a setback for Schultz's war in highly symbolic local elections in the capital, after the conservative opposition outperformed him, as it is the first time in 22 years that the Christian Democratic Union leads the election results in Berlin, ahead of the Social Democrats.

The electoral defeat of the party locally coincides with nationwide criticism of Schultz for his reluctance to support Ukraine militarily. The defeat also comes at a time when Germany is facing a high inflation rate, with a section of German public opinion concerned about the large numbers of immigrants in the country, especially those who came from Ukraine.

It is noteworthy that this was what the initial expectations of the first and second channels of German television showed, shortly before Sunday evening, as these expectations indicated that the Christian party achieved a remarkable progress over the party of Chancellor Olaf Schultz, the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party, which ranked equally second after the Christian party.

The Left Party received between 12.6% and 13%, and the Alternative for Germany party received 9%.

These expectations indicated the possibility of the Free Democratic Party - partner in the ruling coalition at the federal level - leaving Parliament, as it is expected to obtain between 4.5% and 5%.

With these results, the political situation will change in the state of Berlin, which has been ruled since 2016 by a coalition consisting of Schultz's Socialist Party, the Green Party, and the Left Party. Givi must now step down as head of the Berlin state government in light of these results.

The outgoing mayor, Franziska Givi, described the election results as a "bitter evening", referring to a "difficult situation" for her party.