Friedrich Merz, the Chancellor of “Disappointment” and “Indignation”

“We witnessed an election campaign entirely centered around Friedrich Merz,” comments the public broadcaster ZDF . At the end of 2024, when Olaf Scholz ’s government collapsed and early parliamentary elections were called, the man the newspapers dubbed the “man from the Sauerland” [a rural region in western Germany] seemed to be “the one” to take control of an economy “on the brink of collapse” and reduce insecurity. “A man with experience in economic circles, who was certainly not very popular, but possessed the political skills [that voters were looking for].”

Nearly six months later, this conservative, Atlanticist Catholic, often presented as the exact opposite of former Chancellor Angela Merkel , is preparing to take the reins of power. His party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and its Bavarian counterpart, the CSU, came first “by the sweat of their brow” in last February's election. Despite a historically low score, they subsequently managed to reach an agreement with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which came third in the elections, to form a government alliance. But Friedrich Merz's mandate already seems fraught with obstacles.