Germans threaten fresh blow to Merz

LOW RATINGS: One voter said that although he fears the AfD, he hopes the CDU would be ‘punished’ in the election, and ‘maybe then Friederich Merz will be gone’

Germans yesterday began voting in two state elections where far-right and far-left gains could send fresh shock waves through Berlin and rock the government of embattled German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz, 70, has scheduled a crisis meeting of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leadership to discuss the first results as they come in from the regional polls in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The chancellor, in power for 16 months, has also cleared his calendar for the following days and skipped a trip to the UN General Assembly to deal with potential aftershocks from the votes.

A woman accompanied by a dog votes behind a privacy screen at a polling station during the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state election in Schwerin, Germany, yesterday.

Photo: Reuters

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party dealt a stunning defeat to the CDU two weeks ago in Saxony-Anhalt, fueling speculation that internal party support for Merz is wobbling.

“I’d be in favor of the AfD winning, because then they’ll have to prove themselves: Either something will happen, or it’ll be the last time they get any votes,” retiree Peter Sommer said outside a polling station in Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s state capital.

The election debacle came as Merz’s approval ratings have nosedived and he has struggled to push through promised economic and social welfare reforms with his coalition partners the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

Polls suggested that the AfD would make fresh gains yesterday, although it is unlikely to come within reach of power in either state — unlike in Saxony-Anhalt where it fell just a few seats short of an absolute majority.

Outside a polling station in the south of the capital, Moritz Lembke-Oezer, 43, said that although he fears that the vote could benefit the AfD, he hopes “the CDU will be punished” by this election.

“Maybe then Friedrich Merz will be gone,” the Berlin native said, adding that he plans to vote for Die Linke because of the far-left party’s promise to tackle the capital’s dire housing crisis.

Merz received some badly needed support from CDU powerbrokers on Wednesday, when eight state premiers declared jointly that Germany needs “stability now more than ever” rather than “discussions about personnel.”

However, they did not issue a personal endorsement for Merz.

The CDU yesterday faced different challenges unique to those regions.

In the northeastern coastal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Merz’s party is an onlooker to the main battle between the SPD of popular state Premier Manuela Schwesig and the AfD.

While the AfD was polling at 36 percent against the SPD’s 37 percent, according to public broadcaster ZDF, Merz’s CDU, at just 6 percent, was dangerously close to missing the five percent hurdle needed to stay in the state parliament.

A CDU crash below that line would be a historic first and heap enormous pressure on Merz.

In Berlin, the ruling CDU is running a neck-and-neck race against Die Linke, which promises drastic steps to solve the housing issue and is popular with young people.

A CDU defeat there would be another black eye for Merz — especially at the hands of Die Linke, which wants to curb corporate power and leans toward Moscow.

“In personal terms, the situation is quite dramatic” for Merz, Infratest Dimap pollster Roland Abold said.

“In our last survey in September, 13 percent were still satisfied with his political performance. These are the lowest figures we have ever recorded for an incumbent chancellor,” Abold said.