Willi van Ooyen, top candidate of Hesse's hard-left Die Linke, reacts after exit polls of the state vote in Hesse, western Germany, were published on January 18, 2009 in Wiesbaden. German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative CDU with Hesse's top candidate Roland Koch trounced the centre-left SPD in the vote, exit polls indicated, kicking off a super election year forecast to give her a second term. Die Linke was unchanged at 5.1 percent, just clearing the five percent hurdle needed to gain seats in Hesse's parliament. AFP PHOTO DDP/KATJA LENZ GERMANY OUT (Photo credit should read KATJA LENZ/AFP/Getty Images)