Arabic version: ميرتس يتعهد بالبقاء مستشاراً بعد خسائر الاتحاد الديمقراطي المسيحي
According to The Guardian, German chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to remain in office and lead economic reforms after his Christian Democratic Union suffered heavy losses in state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. Merz described the CDU’s result in the coastal state as a “disaster” after preliminary results showed it only just cleared the 5% threshold for entering the state parliament.
The anti-immigration, Kremlin-friendly Alternative für Deutschland won nearly 38% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, more than twice its previous score. It was the third time the AfD had emerged as the strongest party in a German region, though the other main parties’ agreement not to cooperate with it appeared likely to keep it out of the state government. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla called the result “very clear” and urged Merz to resign.
In Berlin, where about 2.5 million people were eligible to vote, the leftwing Die Linke was on course to take about 25%, five points ahead of the incumbent CDU. The AfD also posted a clear double-digit result in the capital. Nearly 1.3 million people were eligible to vote in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Merz said the CDU had been deprived of “tailwinds from Berlin” in both contests, but said he would stay on as chancellor and party chair. He said reforms on taxes, healthcare, pensions and bureaucracy were needed as Germany faced “profound upheaval” and public debate became harsher. “Trust in our country’s institutions is waning and is being actively undermined by radical parties on both the left and the right,” Merz said.
Merz took office in May 2025 leading a coalition with the centre-left Social Democrats, promising to strengthen the economy and reduce AfD support. Germany’s economy is struggling with deindustrialisation, sluggish growth and soaring energy costs. The AfD is the largest opposition force in parliament and leads national opinion polls with about 30%, while Germany’s next national election is due in 2029.
