Volkswagen Avoids Effort to Beef Up Oversight in German State Election<br />If confirmed by official tallies, the result would be a blow to Ms. Merkel, who had visited Lower Saxony several times to campaign<br />and is now negotiating to form a government in Berlin after her party’s poor performance in elections last month.<br />The state of Lower Saxony owns a 20 percent stake in Volkswagen, and the party in power has a strong say over company strategy.<br />The Christian Democrats in Lower Saxony began the election campaign with a substantial lead<br />but may have been hurt by Ms. Merkel’s performance in the national elections last month.<br />15, 2017<br />FRANKFURT — Germany’s largest opposition party appeared likely to retain power in an important state election on Sunday<br />that could sway the balance of power in Berlin and stymie efforts to strengthen oversight at Volkswagen, which dominates the region’s economy.<br />Radical parties on the right and left, which have drained support from mainstream parties at the national level, did poorly in Lower Saxony on Sunday.<br />Lower Saxony’s Christian Democrats, led by Bernd Althusmann, promised to take a more professional approach to Volkswagen, creating a dedicated staff in the prime minister’s office<br />that would help manage the state’s stake and provide better oversight.
