ANGELA MERKEL’S lethargy coated Germany like a “carpet of fog”, raged Friedrich Merz in 2019. There was by no means any love misplaced between Germany’s ex-chancellor and the person she compelled out of a prime job within the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 2002. Tail between his legs, Mr Merz left the Bundestag in 2009, solely to re-emerge 9 years later to compete for the social gathering chief ship Mrs Merkel had vacated. His candidacy thrilled CDU members searching for conservative purple meat. However moderates discovered his conceitedness off-putting. His bid flopped, as did one other final 12 months.
However in September the winner of that second contest, Armin Laschet, led the CDU and its Bavarian sister social gathering to electoral defeat. Now licking its wounds in opposition, the CDU has lastly turned to Mr Merz, who takes over as chief this weekend. As soon as often called a macho tax-cutter with a style for teasing the politically appropriate, Mr Merz, 66, now presents himself as a reasonable. He guarantees to court docket ladies, homosexual folks and younger voters, and to pursue social justice.
Will this persuade the sceptics? CDU centrists appear keen to carry hearth, although some MPs so mistrust the ultras round Mr Merz that they've mentioned leaving the social gathering. Proper-wingers need him to smite the woke. “We'd like a self-confident civic coverage that…clearly positions itself in opposition to identity-politics excesses,” says Christoph Ploss, a younger CDUMP who has lengthy supported Mr Merz. The brand new chief’s first check is available in a number of state elections this 12 months.
On the subsequent federal election in 2025 Mr Merz will hope to guide the conservatives’ bid to unseat Olaf Scholz, the chancellor. For now he'll deal with bread-and-butter points like jobs, industrial change and inflation, now at a three-decade excessive. Mr Merz says the European Central Financial institution should observe the Federal Reserve and put together to lift charges. That the ECB is impartial doesn't matter. Mr Merz desires to dispel the fog.
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