German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to keep his governing coalition intact, saying its survival is important for Germany’s “democratic future” after his party suffered major defeats in two state elections.
Merz said the coalition between his Christian Democratic Unionist (CDU) party and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) remained committed to meeting what he called the country’s historic challenges. His comments came amid growing pressure over a series of poor election results and months of weak approval ratings.
State election losses
In Sunday’s election in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the far-right Alternative for Germany, or AfD, won the largest share of votes. The CDU did not secure enough support to enter the state parliament.
Merz described the result there as a heavy blow and an unprecedentedly severe outcome for the CDU in Germany. In Berlin, the CDU finished behind the hard-left Die Linke party, while the AfD also recorded significant gains.
The elections followed another setback for the CDU two weeks earlier in Saxony-Anhalt, where the party’s vote was halved and the AfD won a major victory.
Pressure on the chancellor
Merz rejected the suggestion that his personal popularity was the central reason for the defeats, saying the factors behind the results extended beyond him. Speculation has grown that he could be replaced during the term through a so-called chancellor swap, although no such change was confirmed in the source material.
AfD co-leader Alice Weidel, when asked on Monday how long Merz would remain in office, told the BBC that she believed he would leave soon.
Merz nevertheless said the CDU-SPD coalition was determined to continue its work in response to the challenges facing Germany.
Source: BBC News
