GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CSU allies suffered historic losses in Bavaria state elections Sunday, dealing a blow to her fragile three-party coalition government.

The Christian Social Union (CSU) scored 37 percent, a steep 10-point drop from four years ago in the wealthy Alpine state it has ruled almost single-handedly since the 1960s.

As a result, it loses its absolute majority and must scramble for coalition allies — likely the conservative Free Voters, who won 11 percent.

Merkel’s other national governing partner, the over 150-year-old Social Democrats (SPD), halved their ballot box support to 9.6 percent, ceding the position of Bavaria’s second-biggest political force to the Greens. “Debacle for CSU and SPD,” ran the online headline of Bild daily, while Der Spiegel called it a “bitter defeat” for Bavaria’s traditional ruling party.

State premier Markus Soeder, 51, conceded the result was “painful,” while CSU party chief and national Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said “it was not a nice day for us.”

The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which rails against Muslims, won 11 percent and entered the 15th of Germany’s 16 state assemblies.

The head of Italy’s far-right League, deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini, hailed the rise of the AfD at the expense of the older and bigger parties, saying that “in Bavaria, change has won” and adding an “arrivederci” (goodbye) to Merkel.

For Merkel, the Bavaria election spells a new headache just over half a year since she managed to forge a fragile “grand coalition” with the CSU and a reluctant SPD. (SD-Agencies)