German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to hold a campaign event on Thursday in the south-western of Saarland, where her Christian Democrats (CDU) have struggled to maintain their lead ahead of local elections on Sunday.
Merkel was scheduled to appear alongside Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer Saarland’s CDU premier, who heads a grand coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) in St Wendel, a wealthy town close to the French border.
She has on Wednesday urged Saarland’s 800,000 eligible voters to cast their ballot in favour of the CDU, which has been in government in the state since 1991.
She referred to the SPD as “unreliable” and derided any government it would form as an “experiment.”
The SPD has a vote share of 33 per cent to the CDU’s 35, according to a recent poll conducted by Insa on behalf of German tabloid Bild.
If the SPD pulls ahead, it could partner with smaller parties including the Greens and the Left Party.
The SPD has been gaining electoral momentum at state and national level since Martin Schulz, the former head of the EU Parliament, returned from Brussels to challenge Merkel in the September election. (dpa/NAN)
