Germany’s Merz ‘shocked’ by far-right state win
Berlin, GERMANY—German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday he was “deeply shocked” by his party’s state election defeat at the hands of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) but vowed to stay the course with tough reforms while seeking to explain them better.
“This is the heaviest electoral defeat the [CDU party] has suffered in years, in decades,” said a crestfallen Merz after Sunday’s vote in the ex-communist eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
“Naturally, this will have to have consequences.”
His center-right CDU scored just 17 percent against almost 44 percent for the anti-immigration, Russia-friendly and pro-Trump AfD, which has vowed a “remigration and deportation offensive” targeting irregular migrants.
AfD national coleader Alice Weidel in a blistering attack on the morning after charged that “no chancellor before has been as unpopular as Friedrich Merz” and labeled him “a major burden” for Germany.
The AfD’s triumphant lead candidate in the state vote, 35-year-old Ulrich Siegmund, said that voters had sent “a signal to Berlin” and mockingly thanked the 70-year-old Merz for being “a very good campaigner” for the AfD.
‘Clear mandate’
Siegmund also said that—after his party narrowly missed an absolute majority—it was now reaching out to other parties and individual members of parliament to build a stable ruling coalition.
“It is a very clear government mandate,” Siegmund said. “It could hardly be clearer.”
Sven Schulze, the defeated CDU state premier who continues as caretaker leader for now, acknowledged that now “we are the opposition—the mandate to govern now lies with the AfD.”
Merz conceded his own low poll ratings had played a role in his party’s loss: “I know that I personally was a constant topic in this election campaign,” he said.
“We must try—I myself included—to reach people more effectively, including in the full range of their emotions.”
But he also vowed that “my determination to continue on the path of reform is unbroken,” saying this was needed for the sake of “our children and grandchildren.”
On Germany’s support for Ukraine, he stressed he would “not budge a single millimeter from my fundamental conviction that we must defend our freedom against Russia as well.”
Supporters of US President Donald Trump cheered on the AfD, with former US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell celebrating the results as “a huge win and a new day in Germany.”
Tech billionaire Elon Musk had been among the first to celebrate AfD’s victory with a resounding “Well done!”
