Friedrich Merz
The occasion was the government’s declining ratings and the growing popularity of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst, according to the Financial Times.
Wüst’s visit to Poland last week, which was widely covered by the German media, added fuel to the fire. After the visit, a number of leading publications began discussing him as a potential successor to the head of government.
The center-left Stern magazine wrote that Wüst is increasingly being mentioned as a possible candidate for chancellor. The conservative newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung noted the growing rivalry between the two politicians, while the tabloid Bild put the question of a possible change of chancellor on the front page.
Growing pressure within the CDU
The discussion was so prominent that representatives of Merz’s inner circle were forced to intervene. They called talk of a change of chancellor “absurd” and “dangerous.” According to the Financial Times, some representatives of the ruling circles believe that part of the media is conducting a targeted campaign against the head of the government.
Nevertheless, the publication’s sources recognize that Merz is under increasing pressure from his own supporters amid the party’s deteriorating political position.
According to the latest polls, the CDU’s rating has fallen to about 23%. At the same time, support for the right-populist Alternative for Germany (AdG) party has grown to 28%, despite the chancellor’s promises to stop its political strengthening.
The situation is complicated by high energy prices, the lingering effects of the conflict over Iran and the lack of progress in negotiations with the ruling coalition partners from the Social Democratic Party of Germany on social policy reform.
Wüst’s popularity is growing
Additional concern in the CDU ranks is caused by the chancellor’s personal rating. According to German media, less than 20% of citizens are satisfied with Merz’s work. In the popularity rating of politicians published by Bild, the chancellor was in last place.
Against this background, the position of Hendrik Wüst looks much stronger. The prime minister of Germany’s largest federal state took the third line of the rating and turned out to be the most popular representative of the CDU.
According to Jana Puglierin, director of the Berlin office of the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, what is happening reflects deeper problems within German politics.
“In Europe, it was believed that Germany, thanks to its budget system and coalition model, remained more stable than France or the UK. However, internal political processes show that the situation is much less stable than commonly believed,” she said.
Search for a new strategy
After Angela Merkel’s departure, the CDU leadership hoped to win back some of the conservative electorate through a tougher migration policy and revision of a number of environmental initiatives. However, despite the victory in the parliamentary elections with a result of about 28%, the party has not yet managed to stop the growing popularity of the AdG.
Against this background, part of the party activists increasingly see Wüst as an alternative political figure. His experience of managing a coalition with the Green Party in North Rhine-Westphalia is considered by many experts to be an example of a more flexible approach to modern German politics.
So far, Wüst himself has not announced his intention to run for chancellor. However, the continuing decline in the government’s ratings makes the discussion about the future leadership of Germany’s largest party increasingly prominent.
