Embattled German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay on despite exit polls in two local elections suggesting damaging defeats for his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.
In the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party was initially projected to scrape through with its worst ever election result. But a few hours later, it dipped below the 5% threshold needed to stay in parliament. Merz called it "a disaster" for his party.
Meanwhile the far-right AfD was on track to win the most votes in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, but it is unlikely to govern as other parties refuse to work with it.
In Berlin, the ruling CDU was expected to be beaten by Die Linke (The Left).
Merz is under mounting pressure, with poor approval ratings and rumours he could even be replaced mid-term in a so-called chancellor swap.
Votes took place on Sunday, a fortnight after the CDU saw its vote halved as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a major victory in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Echoing comments he made after that defeat, Merz told reporters at the party's Berlin headquarters on Sunday that he would forge ahead with his coalition government's plans to push through a package of economic, tax and welfare reforms.
"The reforms have to come," he insisted. "I am taking on this responsibility, because I want to move our country forward".
"What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness and patience," Merz said. "I will demonstrate this as CDU party chairman and, above all, as chancellor of our country."
"I would even go so far as to say that these reforms are the antidote to the authoritarian poison that, with the fascination of authoritarianism, is penetrating ever deeper into our society," Merz added.
The AfD's national co-leader Alice Weidel said: "We are the strongest force and have reached the mainstream of the population."
Some branches of the populist AfD are classed as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence, a designation it strongly rejects.
But its anti-immigration, German-first, and Russian-friendly agenda has found fertile ground in the country's former communist east.
As the projected results came up on the screen at the CDU's election night gathering in Berlin, there were no cheers or celebration.
This is a party that knows it's in trouble, and its leader quickly went on the offensive, declaring that he is going nowhere.
Merz has long coveted the top job in German politics, and likely won't give it up easily.
Polls for both states closed at 18:00 local time (17:00 BST), with a final result expected later on Sunday night, or even Monday morning.
Public broadcasters ZDF and ARD put the AfD slightly ahead in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The party was projected to take 38% of the vote share in the state, followed in second place by the centre-left SPD, on 36%.
For Berlin, the broadcasters put the CDU on 20% of the vote share when polls closed, behind Die Linke - which has never topped polls in the capital before - on nearly 26%.
The AfD also looks set to increase its vote in Berlin, with a projected 16% of the vote.
Prior to Sunday's elections, there had been intense speculation in Germany that Merz could be replaced unless his party's political fortunes improved.
Earlier this week, the leaders of eight German states backed Merz, who has only been chancellor for 16 months.
On Sunday, Burkard Dregger from the CDU in Berlin, told the BBC it was right that Merz should stay on. "He has a lot of work to do and we don't have time to waste to form new government in the federal level".
He described the electorate as "impatient", adding that it was "not realistic to expect that every issue has been solved within one year.
"He has got four years and we have to give him the four years," Dregger said.
While his backers have argued that many of the problems the nation faces are inherited, Merz himself is deeply unpopular.
The former corporate lawyer's tack to the right on issues like immigration has failed to erode AfD support, while also alienating people further to the left.
Source: BBC
-Agencies
