The crack in the German political landscape widened as the polarization toward the outer edges became clear after Sunday's elections in two federal states.
A somber and composed Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democrats, the CDU, said in a televised speech immediately after the exit polls came in at 6 p.m. that the regional election results were "a disaster."
Continued decline
In Berlin, the CDU, which governs the city but looks set to lose power, is on just over 19 percent according to public broadcaster ZDF's forecast late on election night. That is a loss of 9 percentage points.
The Social Democrats, the SPD, continue their decline in Berlin, plunging by more than 6 percentage points to around 12 percent - meaning the SPD is the fifth-largest party in the capital.
Meanwhile, cheers at Die Linke's election vigil rose early on Sunday evening. Berlin is swinging left after the party secured a successful election and is expected to win around 25.5 percent in the important regional vote, an increase of 13 percentage points.
Dear Berliners, we thank you for your trust, Die Linke party leader Elif Eralp told party supporters.
Die Linke has put the issue of rent increases and housing shortages at the forefront - which has resonated with voters.
The Green Party, Die Grüne, is set to get just over 14 percent. This means Berlin is expected to have a red-green government.
The far right ahead
In the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, ZDF's forecast shows that the far-right AfD, the Alternative for Germany, will grow by more than 21 percentage points - and become the largest party with just over 38 percent.
Our goal is to create coalitions, AfD party leader Alice Weidel told ZDF this evening.
The CDU appears to have collapsed by more than 8 percentage points and is forecast to fall below the 5% threshold needed to enter the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania parliament, with 4.9 percent. If the figure holds, it will be the first time in the country's history that the CDU has been eliminated from a regional parliament.
Die Linke gets around 6.5 percent in the federal state and Die Grüne 5.6 percent.
The Social Democrats' decline is not as severe in the Baltic Sea coastal region as in Berlin, and the party is expected to get more than 35 percent, a fall of about 4 percentage points.
Political opposition is expected to be total in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as other parties want to maintain a closed firewall against the AfD.
Sunday's two elections follow the elections in the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt two weeks ago, where the AfD achieved great success with almost 44 percent of the vote.
