German Chancellor Merkel rules out cabinet reshuffle after elections' defeat

2011-03-29 01:22:39 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN, GERMANY (BNO NEWS) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday ruled out a cabinet reshuffle following the defeat suffered by her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the weekend polls, DPA news agency reported.

In addition, Merkel announced a rethink on the nuclear power policy following the disappointing results in the elections. On Sunday, CDU was defeated by the anti nuclear Green Party in Baden-Wuerttemberg state, southern Germany.

"In the next weeks we will discuss very intensively an internally consistent new energy policy," Merkel said. "It involves very fundamental decisions about energy policy."

CDU's coalition partner, the Free Democrats, only managed to re-enter the state legislature in the polls labeled by Merkel as "a very painful day for the whole CDU." The chancellor blamed the nuclear power debate for the defeat.

In early March, Merkel announced a three-month moratorium that put on hold the plans of extending the lifespan of the German nuclear reactors in order to conduct safety inspections at the nuclear facilities.

One day later, the German chancellor said that seven plants constructed before 1980 would be shut down for the duration of the moratorium. The remaining 10 active plants will be subject to thorough safety inspections.

These actions were made in an attempt to tip the balance in favor Merkel's center-right coalition of coalition of Christian Democrats and Free Democrats for the state elections. However, after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan the coalition lost support over the nuclear issue.

The Green Party gained 24.2 percent support in the Baden-Württemberg election, more than double of its latest results in the 2006 state polls. The result will translate in the Green state premier in German history.

Green party's state leader, Winfried Kretschmann, is the most viable candidate for this position but no official announcement has been made. Furthermore, the Social Democrats (SPD) earned a 23.1 percent of the votes, giving the "Green-Red" coalition the majority.

Green party co-leader Claudia Roth described the result as a new era for her party and that history ahs been written. SPD state chairman for Baden-Württemberg, Nils Schmid, said his party will work to bring economic and social cohesion to the community.

Following the defeat, Stefan Mappus, the regional chairman of the CDU party in Baden-Württemberg, resigned. CDU had been the primary political force in the southern state, after heading the local government for 58 years.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-03-29

Very interesting. The Green win and the impact felt immediatly on the NYSE. Solar stocks rise and uranium mining stocks go down. We will see.....