In the federal election held on the 23rd (local time) in Germany, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU) coalition ranked first with 29.0% of the vote, drawing attention to Friedrich Merz (70), the CDU leader, who is expected to be the next chancellor. Merz will lead a conservative government for the first time in over three years since the resignation of former Chancellor Angela Merkel in December 2021, and was a political rival of Merkel.
Merz was born in 1955 in a conservative Catholic family in Brilon, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He entered politics by joining the CDU youth wing and was elected to the European Parliament at the age of 33 in 1989, officially starting his political career. He was later elected to the Bundestag, the German Parliament, in 1994 and became a key figure in financial policy. Merz's claim in 2004 that Germany's tax rules should be simple enough to be calculated while holding a beer mug is still talked about today.
However, Merz ultimately left politics due to conflict with Merkel. He lost to Merkel in the 2000 party leadership election. While Merkel was a female leader with a Protestant background and centrist tendencies, breaking with CDU's tradition, Merz was traditionally conservative. Ultimately, Merz lost the 2002 election against Merkel, who took the leadership position, and he withdrew from the 2009 general election, retiring from politics.
After retiring from politics, Merz worked as a lawyer at the international law firm Mayer Brown. According to the German economic newspaper Handelsblatt, Merz became a millionaire while working at the law firm. CNN analyzed, "Because of this background, voters may have viewed Merz as someone proficient in business," adding that he is a desirable choice for those hoping for a recovery of the ailing German economy by 2024.
Merz returned to politics nine years after leaving, when Merkel was preparing to retire as German Chancellor. He made his political comeback in 2018, promising to shift to the right on issues such as immigration and crime and to prevent the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Merz was subsequently elected as the CDU leader in 2022 after two failed attempts.
At this time, Merz aimed to distance himself from Merkel's legacy. He sought to pull the CDU to the right compared to the Merkel era and advocated for pro-market economic policies. In a 2019 interview with German broadcaster ZDF, Merz criticized Merkel's leadership as being "like a fog carpet," calling her refugee policy introduced in 2015 a major mistake.
If Merz becomes chancellor, Germany's immigration policy is expected to change drastically. According to the German media Spiegel, Merz takes a hardline stance on immigration and considers curbing illegal immigration to Germany as the most urgent task. He argues that asylum seekers arriving from other European Union (EU) member states should be turned back at Germany's land borders.
The New York Times (NYT) stated, "Conservative Merz is considered to be more aligned with U.S. President Donald Trump than current German Chancellor Olaf Scholz," noting that "Merz is expected to lead a foreign policy that aligns with Trump's belief that Europe must take responsibility for its own defense." It continued, "One of Merz's characteristics is his boldness, thinking that Germany needs to participate more strongly in European and global issues," contrasting him with Chancellor Scholz, who has been criticized for his caution.