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Regional setbacks have increased pressure on Germany’s chancellor, but a CDU ally argues that replacing him would not resolve the party’s problems.
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Friedrich Merz’s CDU has been beaten to first place in Berlin and pushed out of the state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, BBC News reported on 25 September. The party has also fared poorly in polls in Saxony-Anhalt. The setbacks have put fresh pressure on the chancellor, although no one in his party has openly challenged him. [1]
Die Linke came first in Berlin, while the AfD won in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The BBC put the AfD at around 28% in national polls. Its co-leader, Alice Weidel, told the BBC she believed Merz’s time in office was running out. Some regional AfD branches are classified as right-wing extremist by domestic intelligence; the party rejects that portrayal. [1]
The BBC’s report also describes a broader unease about German identity among people its reporter spoke to. That assessment sits alongside continuing high energy costs and concerns about Chinese competition facing German industry. [1]
Jürgen Hardt, the CDU/CSU’s parliamentary foreign-policy spokesperson, argued that any successor would face the same challenges. He pointed to stronger results for the parties in other regional elections earlier this year and said they would work to regain voters’ confidence. Economic institutes have raised their German growth forecasts for both 2026 and 2027 to above 1%. [1]
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