BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Germany's opposition conservatives are expected to win another term in the Hesse and Bavaria state elections on Sunday, seen dealing a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left coalition and attesting to the rise of the far-right.
So too has frustration with infighting in Scholz's heterogeneous three-way coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) mid-way through its term.
"The coalition is suffering the mid-term blues and must reckon with losses," said Stefan Marschall, political scientist at the University of Duesseldorf.
"The FDP in particular must reckon with falling out of both state parliaments which could bring greater tensions into the coalition.
More striking is the fact the populist Free Voters (FW) party, which governs Bavaria in coalition with the CSU, has seen a bump in poll support of several percentage points to 15% since being swept up in an anti-semitic scandal.
Persons:
Chancellor Olaf Scholz's, Stefan Marschall, Nancy Faeser, Sarah Marsh, Nick Macfie 私
Organizations:
Social Democrats, Greens, Free Democrats, University of Duesseldorf, Christian Social Union, CSU, Christian Democrats, CDU, Free Voters, FW, SPD, ARD
Locations:
Hesse, Bavaria, Germany, Bavarian