Germany: The lights go out / Berlin shifts stance on nuclear power

Major analysis feature of the shock results in regional elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, March 2011 when Chancellor Merkel’s mighty Christian Democratic Union suffered a humiliating defeat in prosperous Baden-Württemberg. The result – victory for the centre-left and environmentalists – could see a sorely weakened coalition in Berlin limping to the end of its term in office in 2013, with both CDU and the Free Democrats, its liberal junior partner, riven by internal divisions.

ESO: Background information: German business lobby chief quits http://www.europeansources.info/record/german-business-lobby-chief-quits-poll-defeat-to-fuel-merkels-critics/

Spiegel Online International, 28.3.11: The New Green Mainstream. A Seismic Shift in Germany's Political Landscape http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,753642,00.html

Deutsche Welle, 29.3.11: 'We are not a party of naysayers,' says first Green premier http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14950846,00.html

Wikipedia: Alliance '90/The Greens http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_%2790/The_Greens

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