German Chancellor Friedrich Merz intends to remain both leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and federal chancellor, despite his party's poor results in regional elections, according to infohub.kz.
The elections held the previous day in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Berlin ended in failure for Merz's party. For the first time in history, the conservatives will not be represented in one of the state parliaments.
"Catastrophe" was how Merz himself described the outcome of the vote, the outlet writes.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the CDU won just 4.9% — below the required threshold. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) won there with 38.2% of the vote.
In Berlin, the Left Party took first place. The Christian Democrats finished second, but the AfD also won only slightly fewer votes.
Nevertheless, as the outlet writes, after the elections ended, Merz announced his intention to continue reforms, showing "firmness of spirit, resilience and patience," and rejected rumors of a possible resignation from the chancellorship, which began circulating actively after the AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt in earlier elections.
Some German media reported that the text of the address that Friedrich Merz read out shortly after the elections ended had been prepared several days earlier.
Experts believe the politician intends to retain both the chancellorship and the CDU chairmanship regardless of the results. Nevertheless, as the outlet notes, Merz needs the support of at least his own party.
Earlier we wrote that the party of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz would for the first time in history not be represented in a state parliament — the CDU failed to win 5% and enter the parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
And in early September, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) also won the elections in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. At that time, Merz admitted he was shocked by the CDU's defeat.