AKIPRESS.COM - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's party easily won a state election in Saarland, which was closely watched ahead of September's national vote, reports BBC.

Her centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) took 40.7%, comfortably seeing off a challenge by the Social Democrats (SPD), who secured 29.6%.

Mrs Merkel is hoping for a fourth term as chancellor but is under pressure.

The centre-left SPD has seen a recent surge in popularity under new leader Martin Schulz.

Saarland - a small south-western state with one million inhabitants - is currently governed by a coalition of the CDU and SPD as junior partner, mirroring the national government.

The outcome of Sunday's election in Saarland was being watched for signs of voter sentiment ahead of the 24 September general election.

A Deutschlandtrend poll for national TV on 24 March suggested the CDU and the SPD were on level pegging nationally, but that voters favoured Mr Schulz to lead the next government in Berlin.

The former president of the European Parliament took up the post as leader of the SPD in January. He is credited with a revival in popular support for his party.