CDU’s Merz Poised to Challenge Germany’s Scholz Next Year
(Bloomberg) -- Friedrich Merz, leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), may announce his bid to challenge Chancellor Olaf Scholz in next year’s national election as early as next week, a party official familiar with the matter said.
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Both the CDU and its smaller Bavarian sister CSU could approve a Merz candidacy at party meetings on Sept. 23, according to the official, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential.
The announcement would come the day after the regional election in Brandenburg where polls suggest Scholz’s ruling coalition is on track for another defeat against the right-wing AfD. Scholz’s coalition of the Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal FDP recently suffered heavy losses in the states of Saxony and Thuringia.
With a quick decision right after the Brandenburg vote, the last major election this year, Merz, 68, wants to avoid a repetition of the battle for the Chancellor candidacy which erupted between the CDU and its smaller Bavarian sister party CSU four years ago. Then, Armin Laschet and Markus Soeder fought a week-long contest to become the conservative standard-bearer.
Soeder, who’s also state premier of Bavaria, challenged Merz two weeks ago when he said in an interview that he “wouldn’t shy away from taking responsibility for the whole country.” But in contrast to 2021, no leading conservative this time supported Soeder’s renewed claim for the candidacy. The CSU leader has realized that there’s little backing for him, a party official said.
North Rhine Westphalia’s CDU state premier Hendrik Wuest, who was also seen as a potential candidate, said he won’t stand.
“My job is here in North Rhine Westphala,” Wuest said after a meeting of his regional CDU chapter on Monday in Duesseldorf. “I’ve asked the party leadership to support Merz. There was broad support. This is a strong signal of unity.”
With both Wuest and Soeder dropping out, the path for Merz is open.
Merz, a former manager at BlackRock Inc, is currently in talks with Soeder about when and where the announcement would be made. If the two party leaders are unable to reach an agreement by Sept. 23, it could also be announced a week later, the official said. The Bavarian state premier might be won over by offering a cabinet seat after the 2025 election, the official said.
Support for CDU/CSU, which traditionally team up in Germany’s national parliament, has risen to the highest in more than three years, polls suggest. According to the latest Insa survey for Bild’s Sunday edition, backing for the conservatives rose to 33%, the highest level since February 2021. The far-right Alternative for Germany gained 19% support.
The three parties in Scholz’s coalition drew 28% between them, the lowest combined total since they took office at the end of 2021.
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