Admin I Saturday, July 27, 2025
THURINGIA – Germany’s conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz sees a potential for his grouping to win “35% or more” of the voter share in next year’s national elections, he said in an interview to be published on Sunday.
Merz from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, in remarks seen in advance by dpa, that one of his goals is “to become by far the strongest parliamentary group. If possible, we should only need one coalition partner.”
The conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) alliance should be able to choose between at least two parliamentary groups in the Bundestag with whom they could potentially cooperate, he added.
The CSU is a sister party to the CDU in the southern state of Bavaria. In recent polls, the conservative CDU/CSU group has long been at 30% or slightly higher, ahead of current Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats who are polling at about 16%.
Scholz became chancellor in 2021 by forming a coalition with the liberal Free Democrats and the Greens.
“This week we are at 32%. And once key personnel decisions have been made, our support will grow even further, I am sure of that,” Merz said.
By “personnel decisions,” Merz was hinting at the ongoing internal discussions about the CDU/CSU joint candidate for chancellor.
CSU leader Markus Söder has attempted to run for chancellor before, but was previously passed over in favour of the CDU candidate.
The decision on the chancellor candidacy will be made in late summer, after discussions between party leaders and state chairpersons, Merz said.
Earlier this week, the Cabinet announced that the next German national elections will take place on September 28, 2025.
