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🇻🇳 Vietnam /Elections & Politics

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz suffers a political shock

From Tuổi Trẻ · () Vietnamese

Translated from Vietnamese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Analysis Named sources Outcome reported
  • Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he was “deeply shocked” after his CDU won 17% of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, far behind the AfD’s nearly 44%.
  • Merz accepted that his low approval ratings and the government’s slow reforms contributed to the defeat, but pledged to continue work on economic, pension and health policies.
  • The AfD won 39 of 83 state parliament seats, short of a majority, raising the prospect of a far-right state government for the first time in Germany since World War II.

Friedrich Merz has acknowledged that his own low approval ratings and his government’s slow reforms helped drive the CDU to a crushing defeat by the far-right AfD in Saxony-Anhalt.

deeply shocked

· Friedrich MerzThe German chancellor described his reaction to the CDU’s defeat in Saxony-Anhalt.

The CDU received just 17% of the vote, compared with nearly 44% for the AfD. Merz said he felt “deeply shocked” by the result and described it as the worst electoral defeat the CDU had suffered in many years, possibly decades. “Of course, this will have consequences,” he said at a news conference.

Merz said voters had focused repeatedly on him during the campaign, while reform had also remained a central issue. He pledged to keep advancing changes to economic, pension and health policy, saying the party and he personally needed to reach voters more effectively and connect with their emotions.

Of course, this will have consequences

· Friedrich MerzMerz said the severity of the election defeat would require a response.

Sven Schulze, the state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, said the AfD had not won enough seats to govern alone but had gained the right to seek support for a majority. The party won 39 of the 83 seats in the state parliament, leaving it short of control but opening the possibility of Germany’s first far-right state government since World War II.

I know that I myself was constantly a topic in this election campaign. We know that reform was also constantly a topic. We have to make an effort, and so do I, to reach people more effectively, including by touching their emotions

· Friedrich MerzMerz addressed criticism of his campaign and the government’s slow reform progress.

The AfD called on CDU lawmakers to help form a conservative, centre-right majority and break Germany’s long-standing “firewall,” under which mainstream parties reject coalitions with the far right. The left-populist BSW is currently the only German party signalling a willingness to work with the AfD. The two parties oppose mass immigration, support ending aid to Ukraine and favour restoring ties with Russia. Both also argue that sanctions on Russia have unnecessarily harmed Germany’s economy by cutting businesses off from cheap Russian energy. ARD data showed that “peace in Europe” ranked as the second most important factor shaping voters’ decisions in the state.

peace in Europe

· ARDARD data identified this as the second most important factor influencing voting decisions in Saxony-Anhalt.
About this summary

Originally published by Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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