Merkel vows to restore Germans’ confidence in govt after Bavaria election

Chancellor Angela Merkel vowed on Monday to do more to restore Germans’ confidence in her coalition after a battering for both of her governing partners in Bavaria’s state election added to tensions in the alliance. Sunday’s vote stripped Merkel’s conservative allies in Bavaria, the Christian Social Union, of their absolute majority in the state legislature for only the second time in 56 years. The center-left Social Democrats, Merkel’s other federal partner, slumped to a fifth-place finish in the wealthy state. Both parties pinned much of the blame on the national government’s constant public infighting over migration and other issues since it took office in March, AP reports. The election “showed that even with the best economic data, with near-full employment in almost all parts of Bavaria, that isn’t enough for people when something is missing that is so important - confidence,” Merkel said.