Germany is gearing up for elections in 2025, and the CDU leader plans to come out on top
Chairman of Germany 's Christian Democratic Union party Friedrich Merz speaks in front of finance minister Christian Lindner, minister for economy Robert Habeck and chancellor Olaf Scholz: Merz has had Germany ’s longest-ever audition for the top job.Friedrich Merz towered nearly 40cm over Ursula von der Leyen when the two political veterans took to a German election rally stage last Friday, their eyes fixed firmly on two different election goals.
A strong EPP showing will help launch a crucial year for the CDU: after four years in opposition, the party will launch its re-election push this time next year, and Merz wants to be Germany’s next chancellor. Back up eight points since then under his leadership, the party is riding high in all opinion polls with 32 per cent. If next Sunday’s election was for the Bundestag, the Merz CDU and his Bavarian CSU allies would finish neck and neck with the three parties that make up Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light” coalition – counted together.
Unlike the equanimous Merkel, Merz is given to mood swings and outbursts and humiliating dressing-downs of his own MPs on the Bundestag floor. The CDU programme says Germany “cannot do without nuclear power” – abolished in the Merkel years – while Germany needs to push back against the agreed EU shift to electric mobility within the decade.
Christian-Democratic-Union Angela-Merkel Ursula-Von-Der-Leyen
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