Merz Vows to Stay After CDU Slumps to 20% in Berlin and AfD Hits 38%
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Sep 20
Merz Vows to Stay After CDU Slumps to 20% in Berlin and AfD Hits 38%
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Sep 20
Summary
Friedrich Merz said he would remain chancellor and press ahead with economic, tax and welfare reforms after exit polls showed fresh CDU defeats in two state elections.
In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ZDF projected the AfD first on 38% and the CDU only just clearing the threshold for parliament; in Berlin, Die Linke led on nearly 26% while the CDU trailed on 20%.
Merz called the outcome "a disaster" as pressure on him deepened, with poor approval ratings and speculation that he could be replaced in a mid-term "chancellor swap."
The setback came just two weeks after the CDU's vote was halved in Saxony-Anhalt, though the AfD still appears unlikely to govern in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern because other parties refuse to work with it.