Berlin, Apr 8 (AP) The head of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right party on Friday said he was hopeful of winning a key state election next month despite a flap over some party members' response to last year's devastating flood.

The Christian Democratic Union is in opposition at the federal level, but currently leads a coalition government in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, where an election is due on May 15.

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The party's environment minister resigned this week after it emerged that she had returned to a holiday in Spain despite the ongoing cleanup operation following the flood last July that claimed dozens of lives in her state.

Party leader Friedrich Merz said there was nevertheless “no reason at all for pessimism”.

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“On the contrary, I believe that we stand a really very, very good chance of winning the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia.”

Recent polls indicate a close race between the Christian Democrats and the centre-left Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)