Saarbruecken, Germany, Sep. 5, SPA -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats suffered a regional election disaster Sunday in the first test at the polls after weeks of protest over the government's controversial cuts to social welfare benefits. The Christian Democrats (CDU) - Berlin's main opposition party - were returned to power in the Saar state after winning 47.5 per cent, according to preliminary official results. Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) scraped in with just 30.8 per cent - a decline of almost 14 percentage points over the last election five years ago. "This is a defeat - and a bitter one," said Heiko Maas, the candidate from Schroeder's SPD, adding that the party's unpopularity at the national level, where it hit historic lows earlier this year, had badly harmed his chances. In a jab at Chancellor Schroeder, Maas said: "I had to hold up my head for a lot of stuff I did not dream up." The Greens - Schroeder's junior coalition partner in Berlin - will enter the state parliament after winning 5.6 per cent of the Saar vote and the pro-business Free Democrats will also get seats with 5.2 per cent. --More 2325 Local Time 2025 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/198430