BERLIN, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Social Democratic Party(SPD) leader Andrea Nahles is to resign after a series of election setbacks and constant low popularity, according to a SPD statement on Sunday

File photo: AP

"The discussions within the parliamentary faction and feedback from within the party have shown me that I no longer secure the needed support to carry out my duties," Nahles said in a statement.

Nahles said she will declare resignation as the party leader and the SPD parliamentary group formally on Tuesday. She called on the SPD to stay together and act prudently in the coming times.

Nahles' resignation was partly due to the poor performance of the SPD in the recent European parliamentary elections and the state election in Bremen.

The center-left party crashed to 15.5 percent, a sharp decrease from 27.3 percent in 2014 and an all-time low result in its party history in the European polls. The party also lost its stronghold in Bremen yielding its leading position to the Christian Democratic Union(CDU).

The SPD is now facing a shake-up in its administration level, which is feared to be the first step of a chain reaction that it might quit Germany's grand coalition in the lower house of the parliament Bundestag, consisting of SPD and its governing partner CDU/CSU, forcing Chancellor Angela Merkel to dissolve her government and start an earlier federal election.

Since 2005, the SPD has served as junior partner to the CDU/CSU at the federal level for three times.

The party has shared responsibility for unpopular decisions including refugee policies but failed to left its own impression on public.

Some local analysts said that the political alliance with CDU/CSU has blurred the SPD's identity, and many voters thought that the SPD is no longer a policy-changing force in Germany's political map.