CENTRE-RIGHT WIN GERMANY'S HESSE STATE POLL
West Germany's Christian Democrats (CDU)
and their liberal Free Democrat Party (FDP) allies today won
control of the central state of Hesse in state elections,
toppling the Social Democrats (SPD) who had governed the state
for over 40 years.
    The CDU/FDP coalition will have a two-seat majority over
the SPD and their Greens party allies in the new state
parliament. Earlier predictions forecast a hung parliament.
    The poll was the first major test of public opinion since
national elections last January returned Chancellor Helmut
Kohl's CDU-dominated coalition to power in Bonn.
    Political commentators said the result was a debacle for
the SPD, which has been split by disagreements over the party's
future direction. It was also a rebuff for a unique coalition
the SPD had formed in Hesse with the anti-nuclear Greens
movement, which left-wing Social Democrats said could provide a
model for a similar alliance at federal level.
    Bonn Environment Minister Walter Wallmann, the CDU's
victorious candidate for the state premiership, told reporters
"Many traditional SPD voters voted for us because they did not
want an SPD that was under the influence of the Greens."
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