German leader vows to press on with agenda despite 'disaster' state election losses to AfD
The chancellor rejected calls to step aside and said Germany needs difficult reforms after the CDU posted its worst state-election result in decades.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to remain in office Sunday after his Christian Democratic Union suffered a historic 5% result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the party's lowest score since World War II.
- Taking office 16 months ago, Merz has struggled to rally the nation, with his popularity plummeting following the CDU's stinging defeat to the AfD in the Saxony-Anhalt election on September 6.
- In Berlin, the CDU finished second with 20%, trailing Die Linke at 24.5%, while the Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany secured 37% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and 16% in Berlin.
- Although calls for his resignation emerged within his party, eight state premiers declared on Wednesday that Germany needs "stability now more than ever" rather than "discussions about personnel" regarding the chancellor.
- Merz cancelled a scheduled trip to New York next week for the General Assembly, insisting that Germany's economic troubles make his reform agenda more urgent, not less.
146 Articles
146 Articles
The AfD extreme right-wing party wins in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and the Die Linke left-wing party is heading for victory in Berlin.
AfD won in the east, but negative coalition can prevent government. Die Linke stole Berlin from the CDU thanks to new voters. Both forces insist that Merz has to listen to the country, but it does not give in.
Under pressure after election defeats on Sunday 20 September against the far right and the radical left, Friedrich Merz undertook to continue the reforms he promised. The unpopular Chancellor closed the door to an premature start, after days of speculation on this subject. The defeat of his party, the CDU, was such that the conservative party failed to keep elected officials in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania region, a first since the end of t…
Chancellor Friedrich Merz's CDU failed on Sunday to enter the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Land Parliament because it failed to reach the 5% elimination bar, according to estimates from the German public audiovisual industry. ...
Things are looking bleak for Friedrich Merz, whose party is currently facing annihilation in the state. The disaster for the chancellor is enormous, assesses B.T.'s foreign editor.
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