Embattled German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has vowed to stay in office despite exit polls in two local elections suggesting damaging defeats for his centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. In the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the party was projected to barely make it to parliament with the worst election result in its history, while the far-right AfD party was on track to win the most votes. Merz called the result “a disaster” for his party. In Berlin, the ruling CDU was also expected to be defeated by Die Linke (The Left). Merz is under increasing pressure, with low approval ratings and rumors that he could even be replaced mid-term in a so-called chancellor swap. Saxony-Anhalt. Echoing comments he made after that defeat, Merz told reporters at the party’s headquarters in Berlin on Sunday that he would press ahead with his coalition government’s plans to push through a package of economic, fiscal and social welfare reforms. “The reforms have to come,” he insisted. “I take on this responsibility because I want to move our country forward.” “What needs to be done now requires courage, perseverance and patience,” Merz said. “I will prove it as president of the CDU party and, above all, as chancellor of our country.” “I would even dare to say that these reforms are the antidote to the authoritarian poison that, with the fascination of authoritarianism, penetrates ever deeper into our society,” Merz added.
