Friedrich Merz has not yet begun Prime Minister, but he is already feeling the heat.
The incoming leader is facing a barrage of approval ratings and criticism from some of his conservative bases who believe they will succumb to the will of the Center-left Social Democrats (SPD) during a coalition meeting. Merz’s critics say he has failed to get better with his pre-election vow to move his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) sharply to the right in key policy areas, Politico reported.
Opponents in the ranks recently flooded the public after members of the conservative block youth organization in Cologne wrote to Mertz to vent their disappointment.
“Mr. Mertz, we believed in your political leadership. We trusted you. And we have fought for you,” the letter read. “But we’re now asking the question: What for? For a CDU submitting to the mainstream of the left?”
After years of weak governments were split under Prime Minister Olaf Scholz, many European leaders wanted Merz to offer stronger German leadership within the European Union. Meltz also vowed to provide its leadership in light of the challenges posed by US President Donald Trump after winning the Snap election on February 23, “strengthening Europe as quickly as possible and enabling independence from the United States in stages.”
However, Merz’s recent political difficulties caused him to be injured. This is a weakened leader who may have to spend more time trying to repair damaged images at home. Already, German conservative bloc has fallen into polls, but German far-right alternatives (AFDs) are set to become Germany’s biggest opposition when new Bundestags are convened – the Prime Minister’s new vulnerability.
Germany’s latest benchmark, Deutschlandtrend Poll, shows that Merz’s support for conservative blocks cuts 3% points to 26%, with AFD reaching 24% support at the same margin. Perhaps Meltz is even more concerned, only 25% of Germans approve of his performance, a 10 percentage point reduction from February, when conservatives won the national elections, have approved his performance.
Mertz’s recent political issues began when it reached a historic agreement with the SPD and Green to unlock new spending of 1 trillion euros with new spending on defense and infrastructure over the next decade, including 100 billion euros for German green transitions. Germany’s dramatic move to reverse Germany’s voluntary austerity was approved overseas, but many domestic conservatives became quietly wise and believed that Merz, who preached the conservative gospel of fiscal discipline ahead of the election, had supported the debt long supported by his centre-left opposition.
The move also opened him to a fierce attack from his AFD, whose leader accused Meltz of betraying his voters. “Mr. Mertz, what are you standing for?” asked Tino Kurpara, one of the AFD leaders, in Congress. “Now, SPD mRNA is embedded in you.”
Much of the criticism of Meltz comes from Young Union, his conservative block youth organization.
Johannes Winkel, the chairman of the organisation, which sits on the CDU committee, also threatened to vote against a coalition agreement with the SPD that does not implement CORE conservative policies. He called for crackdowns on migration and restoring economic competitiveness by reducing regulations and bureaucracy.
“If the country enters a coalition that has been postponed and has not been promised to make a policy change, the country will suffer a lot,” he said in a daily interview with Sudüchet Zeyton.
Cologne’s youth organization demanded that Mertz track pre-election pledges to reject asylum seekers at the border, refuse to raise taxes and refuse to “significant cuts” of bureaucracy.
“If this course is not revised immediately, it will not only put the CDU profile at risk, but will destroy people’s trust and member commitment,” the conservative youth writes.
But the problem for Meltz is that he doesn’t have much leverage to force the SPD to bend over the will of conservatives. His massive spending plan has already given the SPD much of what he wanted, and he has ruled out alliances with the AFD, so he has no other viable coalition partners.
More recently, Meltz is trying to appease dissatisfied bases and address their core concerns as Trump’s tariffs will wreaking havoc in Europe and beyond.
“The international fairness and the bond market situation are dramatic and could get worse,” Meltz told Reuters. “It’s more important than ever for Germany to regain its competitiveness. It must be at the heart of the Union talks.”
But as Europe faces the most challenging moment since the Cold War, Meltz is far from a clear Meltz, coming from meetings with the political capital needed to promote him on this occasion.