Germany’s anti-atom Green Party has made impressive gains in a state election, benefiting from a growing public concern about reactor safety in the wake of the nuclear disaster in Japan.

The Green Party, which has been at the forefront nation-wide protest campaigns against the federal government’s decision at the end of last year to extend the lifespan of the country’s 17 nuclear reactors, emerged as the main winner of the election in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in eastern Germany.

It succeeded in returning to the state parliament in Magdeburg after 13 years by polling 7.3 per cent of the votes, more than double the votes secured at the last election in 2006, according to provisional official results.

Election analysts said a public debate about the future of nuclear energy in this country sparked off by the crisis at the Fukushima reactor complex crippled by earthquake and tsunami, boosted the voter support for the Green Party.

Business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP), which until now did not take public concern about nuclear energy seriously, was punished by the voters by denying it the minimum five per cent votes needed to enter the parliament. Right extremist party NPD, which campaigned on anti-foreigner themes, also failed to cross the five per cent hurdle.

The outcome of Sunday’s election is unlikely to change the balance of power in the state and present indications are that a new edition of the present “grand coalition” between Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) will rule the state for the next five years.

The CDU suffered a decline in its popularity and polled 32.5 per cent of the votes, around 4 per cent less than in the last election, but defended its position as the largest party in the state. The SPD secured 21.5 per cent, nearly the same level as in 2006 and the two parties together have a comfortable majority to continue their “grand coalition”.