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Conservatives Sweep Bavaria

Pegged as a dress rehearsal in the run up to next week's general elections, Sunday's local election in Bavaria saw conservatives allied with chancellor Angela Merkel gain an absolute majority of seats in the local parliament, according to first results.

 

Ms Merkel's resounding triumph in the second most populous German state heralds a third term in office for the incumbent chancellor. However, the conservative's victory was shadowed by the utter defeat of Merkel's parliamentary ally, Philipp Rösler 's liberal FDP party.

If the FDP repeats a poor showing in federal elections, next Sunday, Angela Merkel will be forced to seek another parliamentary partner to form a coalition, which could in fact be her main opponent, social democratic SPD.

The Christian Social Union (CSU) of Bavaria, which is a sister party to Ms Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) garnered 48.4% of the vote according to preliminary reports from 73 of the state's 90 prefectures.