friedrich merz, chairman of germany's christian democratic union: targeting germany's next chancellor
2024-09-29
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reference news network reported on september 29reuters published an article on september 17 titled "former merkel's main rival friedrich mertz targets germany's next chancellor", written by sarah marsh. the article is compiled as follows:
after being pushed out of the top echelons of politics by his main party rival angela merkel more than 20 years ago, friedrich merz may soon get his first-ever government job: germany's next chancellor .
on the 17th, the conservative christian democratic union (cdu), which topped the national polls, and its bavarian sister party agreed to nominate the 68-year-old mertz as the prime minister candidate for next year's federal election.
break with merkel's policy
after losing to merkel in a power struggle within the christian democratic union in 2002, merz, a corporate lawyer, retired from politics for a long time. in terms of style and policies, mertz is widely considered to be the polar opposite of merkel, who has led germany for 16 years. merkel is a consensus-driven moderate pragmatist, and her cdu is more centrist. mertz, on the other hand, was a brash and defiant economic liberal who advocated a revival of christian values. since being elected chairman of the cdu in 2022, he has pulled the cdu back to the right.
in recent months, he is heard to have railed against berlin's handling of immigration, marked by merkel's open-door policy, calling for refugees to be turned away at germany's land borders.
merz, a catholic father of three and a judge, hopes to win over voters for the anti-immigration alternative for germany party. the alternative for germany this month became the first far-right party to win a state election since world war ii.
mertz made a series of populist remarks, including accusing some ukrainian refugees of being "welfare tourists." cdu insiders worry the comments could alienate more centrist voters.
merz was nearly 2 meters tall. "he was sensitive and easily irritable, especially when he felt he was being treated unfairly," said jutta falk-ischenger, co-author of his informal biography "the unyielding man." "he doesn't have much control over his impulses." however, falk-ischenger said merz was more decisive than current chancellor scholz, who was accused by his opponents of being indecisive.
falk-ischenger said: "he (mertz) listens to everyone and is very reliable; once he says something, he does it."
alexander clarkson, a lecturer on german studies at king's college london, said that as a follower of the late cdu leader wolfgang schäuble, merz relied on his tenacity and loyalty to grassroots members. attraction gained the party chairmanship. grassroots members of the cdu believe merkel has betrayed the party's core principles and are deeply disappointed in her.
accused of being out of touch with ordinary people
clarkson said: "but mertz does not have much deep support within the party and is facing huge internal pressure." the cdu's performance in the 2021 election was its worst ever, but its poll support has gradually improved since then. rose to about 33%. analysts say, however, that approval rating is still relatively low given the deeply divided coalition government led by scholz.
merz, like scholz, has long struggled on politician popularity rankings, though his ranking has improved slightly of late.
a senior cdu official who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "he doesn't have high approval ratings, but maybe that's okay because what's needed these days is just a show of strength - and that he did."
merz, who grew up in a small western town and is the eldest son of a judge, was excluded from the cdu parliamentary leadership role by merkel in 2002 and left the bundestag in 2009 to pursue personal success in business. . he is an amateur pilot. in 2018, he revealed that his annual income was approximately 1 million euros. he has served on advisory and supervisory boards for several large companies, including commerzbank and basf ag. he also served as chairman of the german arm of blackrock inc., the world's largest asset management company.
critics accuse him of being out of touch with ordinary germans and tending to represent the interests of corporate elites rather than those of ordinary people. in 2022, his decision to take a private jet to attend the wedding of german finance minister christian lindner attracted criticism in germany, a country that does not like to show off.
supporters say his experience in the private sector could help him better understand how to restart a stalled economy.
mertz is the author of the 2008 book "challenging more capitalism." he has said he hopes to cut social welfare and reduce taxes, especially taxes on businesses.
he also wants to simplify germany's complex tax system. he once said that the annual tax return should be as simple as writing it on a beer coaster.
merz, who has long opposed germany's withdrawal from nuclear power, believes the government should create more pro-competitive conditions for all companies, such as promoting innovation by lowering energy prices.
carsten brzeski, global head of macro at ing research, said the main problem with all of mertz's proposals is that he has not said how they would be funded. brzeski said: "all of merz's economic policy proposals make sense, but they are typical opposition proposals and not constructive proposals for the next government."
churchill's followers
merz's fiscal conservatism, especially his opposition to common european debt, could inhibit the idea of boosting eu growth, including through increased public investment.
still, merz, who began his political career as a member of the european parliament, describes himself as a "really convincing europeanist" who advocates for a closer eu, especially on defense and foreign policy.
risk analysis firm eurasia group said that, along with his tougher stance on russia and china, could bring him closer to french president emmanuel macron than to scholz. mertz once said that british world war ii leader winston churchill was the politician who had the greatest influence on him.
for 10 years, mertz has served as chairman of the atlantic bridge organization, a non-profit organization whose mission is to strengthen relations between the united states and germany, and calls himself "a convincing transatlanticist."
merz's ability to implement his own policy proposals depends in part on his ability to form an alliance with the three governing parties he has railed against for years, as he, like all leaders of the mainstream parties, has ruled out joining the german alternative the possibility of party cooperation.
"he may appeal to german society's growing desire for politicians with clear convictions after merkel and scholz came to power," said carsten nickel of political risk consultancy tenio. but germany politics is ultimately about compromise, and that may not come naturally to merz.” (compiled by lin zhaohui)
