Regional election defeats set stage for Merkel's tricky last act

• Even after winning the party’s leadership in January, Laschet could be passed over in favor of the leader of the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, Markus Söder, when it comes time to pick a nominee for chancellor.
• Laschet attributed the defeats to voters' concerns about the government's management of the pandemic amid a slow vaccine rollout and rising cases.

The state of play: The CDU is still likely to be the largest party after September’s elections, and may lead a coalition with the increasingly popular Greens.

• But there’s growing speculation about a “traffic light” coalition (so named because of the parties' colors) between the Greens, Social Democrats and Free Democrats, which would exclude the CDU after 16 years of Merkel.

What to watch: The next round of regional elections will come in June.