German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suffered a bruising electoral setback in two state elections on Sunday, including a historic defeat for his party, but vowed to press ahead with potentially painful reforms to Europe’s biggest economy.
Projections by public broadcaster ARD on Sunday night indicated that Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, came in with just 4.9 per cent in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania — the lowest result since World War II for the party in any state. The anti-migration, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany, or AfD, party made significant gains Sunday. The projections were based on exit polls and partial counting for ARD television.
Should the CDU stay below 5 per cent in the final vote count, it would mean that the party would fail for the first time to win seats in a state legislature anywhere in Germany.
Merz acknowledged his party’s result as a “disaster,” but struck a defiant note, rejecting any retreat from his government’s reform agenda. He argued that Germany’s economic and political problems made difficult and potentially unpopular reforms more urgent, not less so, and pledged to press ahead.
“What needs to be done now requires backbone, steadfastness, and patience,” Merz said in a statement shortly after the exit polls were announced on public television. “I will demonstrate these qualities as chairman of the CDU and, above all, as chancellor of our country.”
