Friedrich Merz called it a “disaster,” and that was even before the full scale of the catastrophe for him and his conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) came to light after Sunday’s state elections. In what one outlet called a “power move,” the German chancellor gave a highly unusual televised speech just minutes after polls closed in the states of Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, attempting to get ahead of the narrative with a promise to stay and fight for her economic recovery program. of the far right in Germany: to what extent should we worry? – The LatestBut as the results came in, it became clear that the CDU had not only achieved its worst ever result in a state election in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, but had also emerged from a regional parliament for the first time in post-war history with just 4.9% of the vote in the Baltic coast region. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) won for the third time in a German state, with 38%. against 35.5% of the center-left Social Democrats, Merz’s federal coalition partner. Bar graph of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state election results Although the AfD has little chance of taking power due to a “firewall” of non-cooperation agreed to by the other main parties, the anti-immigration and Kremlin-friendly party could celebrate a new success in destabilizing the German political establishment. In Berlin, the CDU will almost certainly have to leave city hall once coalition negotiations conclude. Polls had been predicting the humiliating result for Merz’s conservatives, which came after a historic defeat two weeks ago in the former communist state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the CDU won just 17% to the AfD’s nearly 44%. But the cumulative effect The impact of these losses, along with Merz’s terrible approval ratings and a far right with clear momentum, can hardly be overstated. Despite his promise to stay the course, many consider the German leader to be on borrowed time. “Friedrich Merz is fighting for his political survival,” said Berenberg bank chief economist Holger Schmieding. “Although Merz has promised to remain as chancellor to spearhead much-needed pro-growth reforms, he will not find it easy to contain unrest within his party.” But as long as none of the potential successors seem willing to brandish the dagger and Merz is unwilling to step aside, a volatile stalemate will reign. Merz, 70, gathered CDU leaders at the party headquarters in Berlin to watch the exit polls together on Sunday night. They shouted from the rooftops with their options. Merz canceled a planned trip to New York this week to speak before the UN general assembly, anticipating that he would need to be in Berlin to deal with the fallout from the state elections. Now, more than ever, he will have his work cut out for him after just 16 months in office.
