Germany is accustomed to hung parliaments. But the one elected on May 9th in North Rhine-Westphalia (new), Germany's most populous state, is more hung than usual. The "Christian-liberal" coalition of Jurgen Riittgers, consisting of his Christian Democratic Union (cdu) and the Free Democratic Party (fdp), lost its majority in the Landtag (state parliament). The winners are a left-leaning trio: the main opposition party, the Social Democrats (spd), which fared worse than last time but better than expected; the Greens, who doubled their share of the vote; and the ex-communist Left Party, which enters nrw's legislature for the first time. Neither of the familiar two-party coalitions (cdu-fdp or spd-Greens) commands a majority. Any one of three possible groupings could emerge. The outcome will have national as well as regional implications.
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